Authors

Discussion

This paper examines the cultural politics of Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia during the Stalinist era, from 1924 to 1953. Based on the analysis of archival sources, Soviet press and cultural production, it aims to uncover how local political and cultural elites in these three Soviet republics negotiated power within the Soviet colonial system. First, it explores how the local political elites in these three Soviet republics instrumentalised cultural institutions amid dynamic power relations between the centre and the periphery. Second, the paper investigates how the Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian cultural elites adapted to the shifting ideological and institutional constraints under different phases of Stalin’s rule. The phases covered here include the early years of power consolidation in 1924-1928, the Cultural Revolution in 1928-1932, the institutionalisation of Socialist Realism in 1932-1934, High Stalinism in 1934-1941, the Second World War 9n 1941-1945, and the post-war Zhdanovshchina in 1946-1953. Finally, the paper explores the mechanisms employed by local cultural and political elites in Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to resist full colonial subjugation through cultural production. By comparing the practices of negotiation, adaptation, and resistance in these three neighbouring Soviet republics, this study reveals the non-monolithic and heterogeneous nature of the Soviet system, which is often portrayed as a monolithic and homogeneous construct through the Russia-centred perspectives. It also uncovers the power dynamics not only between these three republics and Moscow but also among the republics themselves. Ultimately, by exposing the diverse experiences of the non-Russian republics in the era of Stalinism, this paper contributes to the growing body of research aimed at decolonising Soviet history.