Heroism in the frame: Gender, nationality and propaganda in Tashkent and Moscow, 1924-1945

Abstract

The political poster was a ubiquitous component of Soviet propaganda and in a country in process of becoming literate retained a crucial role in the dissemination of ideology, policy and cultural assumption. This chapter examines the gendered content of poster production in Moscow and Tashkent before during and after the Second World War and explores the differential inclusion and spacial placement of male and female protagonists, their dress, deportment, age and social status in order to identify the similarities and differences between the metropolis and the southern periphery. It focuses on the use of hero(ines) to articulate the visual message. Analysis concludes that posters reflected and helped shape the configuration of masculinity, nationalism and public/private space. Though significant changes have occurred in the gendered patterns of public art in the post-communist period, wartime heroic stereotypes continue to exert an influence.