Soviet Russia and Its Leaders in the Satirical Press of the Early Russian Emigration

Abstract

Surveying the satirical press in the time of the early Russian emigration ca. 1920–1931, this essay focuses on caricatures and satirical drawings published in the Paris-based weeklies Bitche (Whip, 1920) and Satirikon (1931). Arguably, exemplifying the émigré reception and portrayal of Soviet Russia, the graphic works prepared for these journals by artists such as Yurii Annenkov, Mikhail Drizo and Mikhail Linskii sought to lampoon and debunk the Soviet political and military establishment as a gesture of refusal to accept the Bolshevik Revolution and as a reflection of the ressentiment and trauma caused by the need to emigrate. In discussing themes and personalities satirized in these vivid and often poignant caricatures, the essay also attempts to delineate the context against which they were created in order to provide a more precise understanding of their commentaries.