‘Cultural Bosses’ as Patrons and Clients: the Functioning of the Soviet Creative Unions in the Postwar Period

Abstract

The article argues that the postwar years rather than the 1930s, as hitherto has been assumed, was the period when top administrators of the Soviet creative Unions acquired their super-elite status. It shows how in this period the Union leaders finalised their control over the production and distribution of, as well as the reward for, literary and artistic work. The article looks at the reasons behind the government's conscious decision to allow a small group from the intelligentsia to become part of the state elite. It also assesses the consequences of postwar government policies towards the intelligentsia for the long-term stability of the regime.