Nikolaus Katzer

Alexandra Köhring

Sandra Budy

Manfred Zeller

The architects of the Soviet Union intended not merely to remake their society—they also had an ambitious plan to remake the citizenry physically, with the goal of perfecting the socialist ideal of man. As Euphoria and Exhaustion shows, the Soviet leadership used sport as one of the primary arenas in which to deploy and test their efforts to mechanize and perfect the human body, drawing on knowledge from physiology, biology, medicine, and hygiene. At the same time, however, such efforts, like any form of social control, could easily lead to discontent—and thus, the editors show, a study of changes in public attitude towards sport can offer insight into overall levels of integration, dissatisfaction, and social exhaustion in the Soviet Union.

Modern Sport in Soviet Culture and Society

Euphoria and Exhaustion

Monica Rüthers

»Helden« verkörperten im Sozialismus als öffentliche Personen und medial gestaltete Rollenvorbilder in besonderem Maße die Optimierungsversuche ihrer Gesellschaften. Ihre tatsächlichen physischen und psychischen Belastungen waren im Allgemeinen jedoch nicht sichtbar. Der Band fragt nach den Möglichkeiten der Darstellung von Erschöpfungszuständen im späten Sozialismus. Behandelt werden Beispiele aus Bildender Kunst, (Dokumentar-)Film, Fotografie und Literatur.

Alexandra Köhring

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