THE SOVIET SPACE ODYSSEY: STAR CHRONICLE OF «THE THAW»

Abstract

Photographs of the first Soviet cosmonauts published in such periodicals of that time as "Ogonyek", "Soviet photo", "Soviet Union", "Sovi- et woman", "Peasant woman" and etc. have been analyzed in this article. Also the author shows cultural features of these representations. Though the problem of outer space exploration attracts many people it should be statedthat the number of works concerning its researchis small. Particularly, there is a lack of studies dedicated to the media conditionality of cosmonauts’ images, including the circulation of them in the magazines of the so called Thawperiod. If such magazines as "Ogonyek" and "Soviet Photo" could be found as the resource of studies nowadays, other editions oriented, for example, to the Soviet women, are practically unexplored. In this research it has been made the attempt to examine the images of cosmonauts in the context of the magazine and considering its special features. In this study special attention is payed to the format of publications, to the comparison of the text and the image, to the browse mode of pictures, to their place in the periodical. Several intercrossed aspects connected with representations have been revealed in the article: corporality, the role of media, demonstration of the “family principle” in relations between cosmonauts as well as the construct of "the singularity of ordinary person” which often figures in the description of cosmonauts (especially of Gagarin). The combination of these semantic points makes possible to speak about the appearance of the other type of the Soviet hero, different from Stalin's aviators and Stakhanovites. The new imagery finds its basis not only in the change of political climate but it is also associated with the changes in the media sphere during the period of Thaw. The increased number of the printed matter, enlarged editionsand a turn towards visuality promoted the popularization of images of cosmonauts and in many respects determined their canonization within the framework of the Soviet culture.