Drawing the Iron Curtain

Jews and the Golden Age of Soviet Animation

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Film, History & Criticism, Performing Arts
Cover of the book Drawing the Iron Curtain by Maya Balakirsky Katz, Rutgers University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Maya Balakirsky Katz ISBN: 9780813577029
Publisher: Rutgers University Press Publication: July 15, 2016
Imprint: Rutgers University Press Language: English
Author: Maya Balakirsky Katz
ISBN: 9780813577029
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication: July 15, 2016
Imprint: Rutgers University Press
Language: English

In the American imagination, the Soviet Union was a drab cultural wasteland, a place where playful creative work and individualism was heavily regulated and censored. Yet despite state control, some cultural industries flourished in the Soviet era, including animation. Drawing the Iron Curtain tells the story of the golden age of Soviet animation and the Jewish artists who enabled it to thrive. 

 

Art historian Maya Balakirsky Katz reveals how the state-run animation studio Soyuzmultfilm brought together Jewish creative personnel from every corner of the Soviet Union and served as an unlikely haven for dissidents who were banned from working in other industries. Surveying a wide range of Soviet animation produced between 1919 and 1989, from cutting-edge art films like Tale of Tales to cartoons featuring “Soviet Mickey Mouse” Cheburashka, she finds that these works played a key role in articulating a cosmopolitan sensibility and a multicultural vision for the Soviet Union. Furthermore, she considers how Jewish filmmakers used animation to depict distinctive elements of their heritage and ethnic identity, whether producing films about the Holocaust or using fellow Jews as models for character drawings.  

 

Providing a copiously illustrated introduction to many of Soyuzmultfilm’s key artistic achievements, while revealing the tumultuous social and political conditions in which these films were produced, Drawing the Iron Curtain has something to offer animation fans and students of Cold War history alike. 

 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the American imagination, the Soviet Union was a drab cultural wasteland, a place where playful creative work and individualism was heavily regulated and censored. Yet despite state control, some cultural industries flourished in the Soviet era, including animation. Drawing the Iron Curtain tells the story of the golden age of Soviet animation and the Jewish artists who enabled it to thrive. 

 

Art historian Maya Balakirsky Katz reveals how the state-run animation studio Soyuzmultfilm brought together Jewish creative personnel from every corner of the Soviet Union and served as an unlikely haven for dissidents who were banned from working in other industries. Surveying a wide range of Soviet animation produced between 1919 and 1989, from cutting-edge art films like Tale of Tales to cartoons featuring “Soviet Mickey Mouse” Cheburashka, she finds that these works played a key role in articulating a cosmopolitan sensibility and a multicultural vision for the Soviet Union. Furthermore, she considers how Jewish filmmakers used animation to depict distinctive elements of their heritage and ethnic identity, whether producing films about the Holocaust or using fellow Jews as models for character drawings.  

 

Providing a copiously illustrated introduction to many of Soyuzmultfilm’s key artistic achievements, while revealing the tumultuous social and political conditions in which these films were produced, Drawing the Iron Curtain has something to offer animation fans and students of Cold War history alike. 

 

More books from Rutgers University Press

Cover of the book Shadow Bodies by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Comic Book Movies by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Using Servant Leadership by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Feminism and Popular Culture by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book City Kids by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Toxic Exposures by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Life on the Malecón by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Destined for Greatness by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book The Autobiography of Citizenship by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Aphrodite's Daughters by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book The Migration of Musical Film by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Southwest Asia by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book The New Neighborhood Senior Center by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Producing Excellence by Maya Balakirsky Katz
Cover of the book Cinematic Canines by Maya Balakirsky Katz
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy