From chastushki to Tchaikovsky: Amateur activity and the production of popular culture in the Soviet 1930s

This work studies the cultural production of music in the 1930s in Russia, and focuses on Russian popular music, particularly 'folk' music as it was characterized at the time. By exploring the specific form of production of this music called samodeiatel'nost' (amateur activity), my work attempts to gain insight into a perspective that has not often been investigated---that of ordinary participants in the society's cultural life. 'Culture,' cultural norms and cultural expectations of the period, including conditions of a 'cultural contract' in that society, are therefore examined. Musical repertoire as a site of constant cultural struggle and negotiation is a prominent theme in this study. Motivations for these amateurs to perform are also investigated; I will present some plausible lines of thought on the issue to advance the discussion, as this aspect has usually been treated previously with cliched assumptions and little practical analysis.;This investigation focuses on the producers rather than the consumers and objects of Soviet culture of the Stalin era. As a study primarily of amateur rather than professional activity, much of my work describes the regular activities of amateur peasant and worker musicians and singers. I have followed the stories of these 'cultural producers' in contemporary daily provincial newspapers of Ivanovo province, and a few national magazines dedicated to amateur or 'club' activities. The stories of these individuals and groups give us a unique insight into the 'everyday' aspects of the production of Soviet culture.;The performances demonstrate an explosion of amateur activity in Ivanovo province from 1934 to 1939. The phenomenon occurred because of a historical conjuncture of opportunity and political acceptability, when the people had the time, energy, and access to participate. It sprang from a base of enthusiastic amateur musicians whose activity was based on their expectations about their personal satisfaction from performance and of affirming their culture, and the definitions and relations of culture with the state. The negotiations between these amateurs and the state show that the relationship between society and the Stalinist state, as well as within professional performance situations, was more complex and less controlled than usually assumed.