Customer Reviews

The Military Uses of Literature: Fiction and the Armed Forces in the Soviet Union

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I don't know what I'm doing trying to blurb a scholarly kinda book like this, but here goes, for whatever it's worth. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s, it might seem that research like Hooker's has become obsolete, a moot point. But that remains to be seen, especially in view of recent hostile moves in the Caucasus region by the military forces of Putin's Russia. We'll see. The very fact that the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet military put out periodic "shopping lists" of what they wanted fiction writers to produce to enhance the appeal of national service makes it obvious to the average western reader that any real literary creativity would probably be seriously compromised, if not totally stifled. Here's an example of such a list of topics for military fiction to explore, published in 1977:

"* the romance and heroism of the service; * the unity of the Army and the people; * the personality of the professional officer as a part of an advanced Socialist society; * the high ideals, convictions and morals of servicemen and * their readiness to perform feats of valor."

Blecch! Sounds pretty dreary and party-line, huh? And there were other such similar and equally restrictive lists published for the edification and direction of Soviet writers over a period of nearly sixty years, from the 30s to the 90s. I have long been interested in, if not an actual student of, life in the old Soviet Union, and its military always held a special attraction for me. So I came to this book in hopes of finding some help in locating some "good" books about real life in the modern Soviet military. Sadly, because "the task of military literature is to support the official point of view," I found nothing in this book - no titles or authors - that I would want to pursue and read in its entirety. While I am sure there is probably some decent, perhaps even good writing to be found in these books, because of the need to fulfill the aforementioned "task of military literature," the scenarios are too often contrived and forced in order to suit the Party line and also to provide the "required socialist-realist happy ending." In many of the works cited, the protagonist hero is even the unit's political officer, or "Zampolit" for cripes sake. I mean, Come ON! I'm pretty sure the political officer of most Soviet units was not much more than the Party's undercover "weasel" or stool pigeon. Remember the Zampolit in the book and film, "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming"? A stooge! Even in the book's final chapter dealing with the Soviet forces' role in the ill-fated Afghanistan war, Hooker has this to say of the Soviet fiction depicting that conflict: "The mujahedeen are ruthless and cruel. The Soviets are gallant and kind." Of course there are wonderful Russian novels out there. Everyone knows that. But those weren't the ones being examined by Hooker in this study. I should probably give this a 5-star, just because I can appreciate all the work that went into it; and it is extremely well written and erudite with a capital E. But for the average western reader like me, it's a slog. I'm still hoping to find some really good novel (or a good memoir even) about the Afghan war by a vet who was there - in translation, of course. Maybe Hooker will see this and put me on to one. In the meantime - Molodets, Mark! - Tim Bazzett, author of SoldierBoy: At Play in the ASA