Red Cavalry analyses the connection between aesthetic inquiry and political commitment in Soviet Russia in the 1920s and 30s and explains some of the key moments in this relationship. Through a remarkable collection of texts by specialists like Evgeny Dovrenko, Cristina Lodder, Pascal Huyn, Richard Stites, Andrei Smirnov, Vitali Shentalinski et. al., along with documentary material, it illustrates the strategies adopted by the Soviet state to impose its ideologies using a new language, mythology, symbols, rites and heroes, and investigates the contribution made by writers, filmmakers, musicians, artists and playwrights (whom Stalin himself described as the “engineers of the soul”) by examining the active participation of some in the Bolshevik propaganda, the isolation of others, and the despair felt by many. The articles will deal with themes such as revolutionary iconoclasm, the role of culture by and for the proletariat, montage as a vehicle for expressing the narratives of the...