Anna Levina – Saint Petersburg – Soviet Culture of the 1950’s: State-Controlled Idealism

**Just a reminder of the obvious. These tours do not mean that we support the current regime. I think the story of my life pretty much proves that. We study history and try to learn from the mistakes of the past**

The Soviet culture of the 1950s was characterized by strict government control and censorship under the leadership of Joseph Stalin and later Nikita Khrushchev. Socialist realism dominated the arts, emphasizing themes that glorified communist values, industrial progress, and the working class. Literature, music, film, and visual arts were heavily influenced by state ideology, with artists required to depict positive representations of Soviet life.