Authors

Oxana Kosenko¹;  ¹ University of Ulm, Germany

Discussion

The Russian Revolution of 1917 strove to create a 'new man' — a morally and psychologically superior human being. This 'new man' required complete physical and mental renewal, which meant, among other things, the 'optimisation' of hygiene practices among the masses. In the years following the revolution, the theatre movement in Soviet Russia gained strength. Many theatrical performances addressed prevailing social health issues. Hygienic awareness was especially crucial during the First World War and the Russian Civil War, when epidemic diseases flourished and claimed millions of lives. In the 1920s, such performances were staged in workers' and farmers' clubs, and even in kolkhoz fields. From 1925 onwards, theatrical hygiene propaganda was centrally managed by the newly founded Moscow Theatre for Sanitary Culture (1925–1947).

The political importance of disseminating healthcare knowledge has often been discussed in scholarship on the Soviet Union. Historians interpret hygiene as a modern technology of power, arguing that notions of hygiene and health encompassed more than just bodily care, influencing the development of Soviet institutions and identity. However, the most advanced means of 'sanitary literacy' at that time – theatrical performances – have not yet been studied. Theatre, as an art form that uses the body as a means of communication, seems predestined for hygiene education.

This contribution presents the results of an interdisciplinary case study exploring the possibilities and limitations of theatrical medicalisation and biopolitics in the early Soviet Union. Evaluating the extensive archival holdings of the Moscow Theatre for Sanitary Culture reveals that this 'hygienic theatre' served as a laboratory for the biopolitical constitution and 'hygienisation' of the masses. What hygienic and body knowledge was taught, and in what way was it communicated to the audience? Which medical, political, and performing discourses were incorporated into the theatrical plays, and which were not? How were the values and norms of the new Soviet society conveyed through these theatrical performances?