American nightmare: images of brainwashing, thought control, and terror in Soviet Russia
Date
2010
Authors
Smith, David A.
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Wiley-Blackwell
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Article
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Abstract
During the earliest and most frigid years of the Cold War, 1947-1953, the overwhelming majority of American's media and public opinion promoted the idea that Soviet society was something close to a complete " dystopia." This article examines Americans' most commonly held perception of day-to-day life in the USSR: that modern methods of thought control and terror had transformed the Russian people into an enslaved mob of subservient, dull and militaristic robots. Evidence from American literature, popular culture, political speeches and public opinion polls suggests this obsessive attitude toward Soviet Russia was in part a reflection of Americans' fears and anxieties about the future of their own society at mid-century.
Description
This manuscript was winner of the 2010 William M. Jones Award for the Outstanding Graduate Student Paper in American Culture at the American Culture Association Conference.
Keywords
American history, cold war, Soviet Union
Citation
The Journal of American Culture, Vol.33, No. 3 (September 2010): 217-229
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Citation
The Journal of American Culture, Vol.33, No. 3 (September 2010): 217-229
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DOI
10.1111/j.1542-734X.2010.00745.x