AvantGardes at the Iron Curtain: A Transnational Reading of Allen Ginsberg and the Soviet Estradny Movement by Gregory M. Dandeles A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Language and Literature) in the University of Michigan 2017 Doctoral Committee: Professor John A. WhittierFerguson, Chair Associate Professor Julian Arnold Levinson Associate Professor Joshua L. Miller Associate Professor Benjamin B. Paloff Gregory M. Dandeles
[email protected] ORCID iD: 0000000347162210 © Gregory M. Dandeles 2017 i Table of Contents: List of Figures iii Abstract iv Introduction: AvantGardes at the Iron Curtain 1 Chapter I: Transnational Beatnik: Russia in Allen Ginsberg’s Early Poetry 19 Chapter II: Red Cats: Allen Ginsberg in Translation and Propaganda 35 Chapter III: Planet News in 1965: The Estradny Movement’s Impact on Ginsberg’s Poetry 69 Conclusion: AvantGardes After the Iron Curtain 114 Appendix 122 Bibliography 130 ii List of Figures Fig. 1. The caption of this Sovietera propaganda says “Freedom, American Style.” 27 Fig. 2. This Khrushchevera poster promises “Hybrid seeds are the key to high 47 corn yields!” Fig. 3. The cover of a Russian pamphlet of “Howl” (Вой) depicting the “Moloch” 50 figure Fig. 4. “The Moloch of Totalitarianism,” by Nina Galitskaya 51 Fig. 5. The cover of “Red Cats” painted by Lawrence Ferlinghetti 63 Fig. 6. Andrei Voznesensky, “Portrait of Allen Ginsberg,” hair and open cuffs, 1991 65 Fig. 7. Sheet music for “On Jessore Road,” published with the poem in Collected 109 Poems Fig. 8.