Soviet Utopian Discourse: Reconstruction Attempt

The paper attempts to reconstruct the Soviet utopian discourse. As a theoretical and methodological basis for this operation, the author refers to the operationalist understanding of utopia, which dominates in modern Utopian studies (from Ernst Bloch to Frederic Jameson and Ruth Levitas). According to this approach, utopia is considered as a skill and the possibility of constructing an alternative state. It has two hypostases, i.e., it could be considered as an analytical, interpretative tool that comprehends reality, and as a practical tool that constructs an alternative. The research optics built in this way is aimed at understanding the logic of framing and presenting another, maybe better, future in specifi c socio and cultural conditions. Applying this methodology to the Soviet sociocultural reality, one can embrace the diversity of utopian discourse manifestations and fi gure out a comprehensive
space of possibilities based not on ready-made blueprints of a better world but on the skill of its imagination. The main components of the Soviet utopian discourse are (a) reliance on Marxist philosophy prescribing concrete actions to change the world, (b) understanding the purpose of these changes, (c) their dichotomous and totalizing nature, as well as (d) connection with related areas of experience (ideology, myth, and memory).