Folklore for Stalin: Russian Folklore and Pseudo-folklore of the Stalin Era

After the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, folklore, like literature, became an instrument of the political propagandist. Folklorists devoted considerable efforts to attending to what purported to be a rebirth of the Russian epic tradition, producing works of pseudofolklore that as often as not featured Joseph Stalin in the hero's role. Miller's account of this curious episode in the history of popular culture and totalitarian politics, and his synopses and translations of "classic" examples of folklore for Stalin, seek to serve as a resource not only for the study of contemporary folklore but also for the political scientist.

About the Author

Frank J. Miller received his Ph.D. in Russian literature from Indiana University. He is currently Associate Professor of Russian at Columbia University where he is the Coordinator of the Russian Language Program. He is also the author of A Handbook of Russian Verbs, Reading and Speaking about Russian Newspapers, as well as many articles on language and folklore.