Reading Stalinism: Stalinist Culture as a Field of Research

This article analyzes the research field of Stalinist culture, which has been rapidly changing since the early 1990s, when the study of Stalinism left the sphere of traditional Sovietology and gradually became one of the dominant subjects in the history of the 20th century. Among the main factors that influenced the formation of this research field, one can name the change of generations of researchers, interdisciplinarity and methodological shifts, democratization, and the opening of archives, as well as changes in the academic economy. However, in general, the analysis of Western and Russian historiography reveals numerous gaps in the study of Stalinism and the need for new methodological and institutional changes.

Automated summary

This article analyzes the rapid changes in the research field of Stalinist culture since the early 1990s. It highlights factors such as generational shifts among researchers, interdisciplinary and methodological changes, democratization, the opening of archives, and changes in the academic economy that have influenced the formation of this research field. However, it also reveals gaps in the study of Stalinism and the need for new methodological and institutional changes, as seen in Western and Russian historiography.