Soviet Literature - Perestroika [Reconstruction]

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol)

Ed. by Neil Cornwell, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.2.00: Post-1917 Writing and Culture in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, 1917-present.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Domains

Movements, styles and periods (literature)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1985-1991

Places

Russia (Location)

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Perestroika

was a major policy initiative introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev into the Soviet Union, soon after he assumed power in 1985. The word means “restructuring”, and was a term that had been use for bureaucratic (and personal) “reconstructions” back in the 1930s. Now, however, far from the intensification of Stalinism, “restructuring” was to be applied to a wide range of administrative, economic and political institutions and practices (along with the policy of

glasnost’

, meaning in effect “openness”, or “transparency” and accountability) and with a far greater efficiency uppermost in mind.

Perestroika

began to take hold from 1986 and produced radical and widespread reforms: in the political system, in the economy, the state services and culture - in particular…

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161 words

Citation: Cornwell, Neil. "Soviet Literature - Perestroika [Reconstruction]". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1594, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Soviet Literature - Perestroika [Reconstruction]

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