FRAGMENTED MYTHOLOGIES: SOVIET TV MINI-SERIES OF THE 1970S by Elena Prokhorova BA, Moscow State University, 1987 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 1997 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2003 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Elena Prokhorova It was defended on May 12, 2003 and approved by Nancy Condee, Associate Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Jane Feuer, Professor, Department of English Carol Stabile, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Martin Votruba, Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Vladimir Padunov, Associate Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature Dissertation Director ii © Copyright by Elena Prokhorova 2003 All Rights Reserved iii FRAGMENTED MYTHOLOGIES: SOVIET TV MINI-SERIES OF THE 1970S Elena Prokhorova, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2003 My dissertation provides an analysis of the Soviet television mini-series released between the late 1960s and early 1980s, specifically the spy thriller, the police procedural, and the detective series. I argue that serialized production were an ideal form for the negotiation of the inherited models of individual and collective identity with the new cultural, social, and political values that came into play during the Brezhnev era. Chapter One provides an overview of Russian and Western studies of Soviet television and describes the methodology used in the three analytical chapters. I approach the three genres as variations of the socialist realist masterplot, which undergoes fragmentation and transformation in mini-series. Chapter Two discusses the spy thriller, which addresses the issue of “inside” vs. “outside” of the political system, revealing the absence of a stable meaning behind the category of the Soviet “us.” My case studies in this chapter are Evgenii Tashkov’s His Highness’s Adjutant (1969) and Tat'iana Lioznova’s Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973). Chapter Three analyzes the genre of police procedural. The “institutional” version of the genre—The Investigation Is Conducted by Experts (1971-89)--lays bare the absurdity of the Soviet economy, while The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (Stanislav Govorukhin 1979) redefines police narrative as a populist story of idealized past. Chapter Four discusses detective mini-series. As case studies I use the Aniskin series of made-for-TV films (1968, 1974, 1978) and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (Igor' Maslennikov 1979-86). These iv productions use temporal and spatial displacement to construct a protagonist, whose status of positive hero is entirely determined by the utopian nature of the community he represents. In late Soviet culture, modernist utopia turns into a stylized “Victorian” past, which above all values stability. Finally, Conclusion discusses the role of Brezhnev era productions on post-Soviet television. I argue that these series both fulfill a “therapeutic” function by establishing a link with the past culture and serve as models for the construction of a new Russian identity. I interpret Russian television’s privileging of the police procedural as the revival of Russians’ search for a communal, rather than an individual identity. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee, especially to Professor Vladimir Padunov, Professor Nancy Condee, and Professor Carol Stabile, for their help and guidance. To Volodia Padunov I owe not just the idea for this project but its completion as well. Volodia's original and challenging ideas truly shaped me as a scholar and served as a beacon in navigating the field of Cultural and Film Studies. Throughout my graduate career he has been both a close friend and a mentor in the strictest socialist realist meaning of the word. I would like to thank Nancy Condee, whose knowledge, professionalism, and ironic outlook have supported me both inside and outside the classroom. I am grateful to Carol Stabile who introduced me to television studies and whose rigorous approach to writing helped me in this project. I would like also to thank Jane Feuer and Martin Votruba for their help and advice. I also appreciate the financial support of the Graduate Program for Cultural Studies, the Andrew Mellon, and the Lillian B. Lawler fellowships. My special thanks go to Professor Helena Goscilo for her help with the early drafts of this dissertation and for her intellectual generosity and unflinching support of graduate students above and beyond the call of duty. I would also like to thank all my teachers and colleagues who served as models and guides in my work: David Birnbaum, Lucy Fischer, Marcia Landy, Katerina Clark, Mikhail Iampol'skii, Mark Lipovetskii, Birgit Beumers, and Susan Larsen. My deep gratitude to my friends and fellow graduate students, especially Seth Graham, Jerry McCausland, Michael Brewer, Petre Petrov, Ben Sutcliff, and Dawn Seckler. Their support and sense of humor provided a safety net, which helped me to meet the challenges of graduate school. They have also been exceedingly patient proofreaders of my English. My greatest debt is to my family. All these years my husband Aleksandr Prokhorov has been my best colleague and friend, supportive of my ideas and understanding of my weaknesses. My daughter Dasha grew up together with this project. My love and respect goes to them for being supportive and terrific people. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Object and Outline of the Dissertation...................................................................... 1 Chapter One. Mini-Series in the Context of Late Soviet Culture.................................................. 7 1. Studies of Soviet Television. ................................................................................................. 7 1.1. Television Research in the Soviet Union........................................................................ 9 1.2. Western Studies of Soviet Television........................................................................... 15 2. Research Methodology. ....................................................................................................... 22 3. Socialist Realist Masterplot and its Fragmentation after 1953. ........................................... 26 3.1. Defense Culture and the Soviet Scout Film.................................................................. 26 3.2. Domestic Crime Film.................................................................................................... 36 3.3. Films about Soviet Scouts and the Emergence of the Mini-Series............................... 39 4. Brezhnev Era Culture through the Mini-Series: Mythologies of “Developed Socialism.” .46 Chapter Two. Agents of the Brave New World: Soviet Television Spy Thriller........................ 59 1. Approaches to the Genre and Late Soviet Versions of the Spy Story. ................................ 59 2. From Thaw to Stagnation: His Highness’s Adjutant. .......................................................... 65 2.1. Fragmentation of the Master Narrative......................................................................... 65 2.2. “Us” and “Them”: Mixing the Codes. ........................................................................... 69 2.3. Fragmentation of the Positive Hero. .............................................................................. 74 3. Spring Time for Schtirlits: Seventeen Moments of Spring and Camp Totalitarianism........ 81 3.1. The Myth of History as Fragmented Memories............................................................. 83 3.2. The Positive Hero: Double-Speak as both Identity Builder and Visual Pleasure.......... 88 3.3. Aesthetics of Mediation: the Voice-Over. ..................................................................... 95 3.4. Saying Goodbye to the Empire “…and Loving It!”: Allegory of Brezhnev-Era Society. ............................................................................................................................................. 103 3.5. “Shtirlits Culture” and the Recycling of Soviet Discourse......................................... 108 Chapter Three. 1970s Soviet Police Procedurals as Vehicles of State Ideology........................ 114 1. Police Procedurals and Soviet Narratives of Law and Order ............................................. 114 2. The Investigation Is Conducted By Experts and the Fragmentation of the Thaw Detective Model. ..................................................................................................................................... 122 2.1. Juggling Thaw and Stagnation: the Politics of Compromise...................................... 122 2.2. The Police Team against Criminals. ........................................................................... 128 2.3. Early Episodes: “Socialism with a Human Face” and the Discourse of State Enlightenment..................................................................................................................... 136 2.4. Late Episodes and Systemic Criticism........................................................................ 144 3. The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed and the Populist Police Procedural..................... 154 3.1. The Police and Soviet Nostalgia................................................................................. 154 3.2.