The subjectivity and other-worldliness of science fiction has always been used to reflect upon our own world. This blog posts examines how early SF was closely tied to the Cold War.
The histories of science fiction in the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union are deeply intertwined because of their interactions of censorship and message. Literature was the start of the communist revolution with writings like Marx’s Communist Manifesto and Lenin’s underground Iskra newspaper. They promoted the communist ideology and soviet science fiction was no different. Zhdanov explains that soviet literature (including science fiction) has “organized the toilers and oppressed for the struggle to abolish once and for all every kind of exploitation and the yoke of wage slavery” (Zhandov 2). Literature’s purpose during the Pre-Cold War and Stalin eras was to spread the message of socialism. This was in contrast to western science fiction, which had “always placed a greater premium on entertainment rather than improvement” (Major 77). For example, Dr. Strangelove’s climax moment is a cowboy hat wearing Air Force crewman riding a nuclear bomb down to Earth which would ignite the world in nuclear fire. In the capitalist west, the problems of nuclear power and the Cold War were freely explored and criticized in science fiction. The U.S.S.R. wasn’t so lenient on critical works of communism.
As much as science fiction was used to push socialist messages on the public, the Soviets were worried about its ability to do the opposite. Science fiction was quickly noted for its inherent nature as “a medium for critiquing the direction of the infant revolution” (Major 75). It would be easy for authors to turn the popular utopian theme in eastern science fiction against the socialists. Soviet Russia’s relationship with science fiction was that of a tight yoke that carefully watched where it walked. Only until after Stalin’s death and the process of the ‘thaw’ began would more critical works of science fiction be allowed past the soviet censors.
However, these works couldn’t be blatant in its ways of criticism. It had to be subtle swipes at the side to make it past. Some methods were exploring the possibility of the convergence of communism and capitalism or to hide it behind humor and irony. (Major 90-91). Soviet science fiction focused on “coded critiques” and political writing (Major 92). It was a powerful yet limited tool for authors to examine communism’s successes and failures.