Overview
- Serves as one of the first English-language texts to analyze Montand's global cultural impact
- Offers insights to scholars of Soviet history, totalitarianism, cultural diplomacy, film and politics, and popular music
- Addresses ideas of cultural globalization and the increasing geopolitical polarities between conservatism and reform
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
About this book
This volume is the first book-length account of Yves Montand’s controversial tour of the Soviet Union at the turn of the years 1956/57. It traces the mixed messages of this internationally visible act of cultural diplomacy in the middle of the turbulent Cold War. It also provides an account of the celebrated French singer-actor’s controversial career, his dedication to music and to peace activism, as well as his widespread fandom in the USSR. The book describes the political background for the events of the year 1956, including the changing Soviet atmosphere after Stalin’s death, portrays the rising transnational stardom of Montand in the 1940s and 1950s, and explores the controversies aroused by his plan to visit Moscow after the Hungarian Uprising. The book pays particular attention to Montand’s reception in the USSR and his concert performances, drawing on unique archival material and oral history interviews, and analyses the documentary Yves Montand Sings (1957) released immediately after his visit.
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Reviews
“The volume is particularly noteworthy for its strong interdisciplinary dimension … . The multiplicity of these perspectives and the methodologies they imply make it possible to explore the complexity of the issues at stake in Yves Montand’s decision to travel and sing his French songs in several Soviet cities … from 17 December 1956 to 19 January 1957 … . The undeniable value of the book lies in the way the various sources are presented and linked Together … .” (Perrine Val, H-Soz-Kult, hsozkult.de, June 22, 2023)
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Mila Oiva is a cultural historian and an expert on Russian and Polish history. She is currently working as a post-doctoral scholar at the CUDAN Open Lab at the Tallinn University, Estonia. Her research interests focus on circulation of information. She is involved in projects studying the phenomenon through the 19th-century global news flows, contemporary Finnish and Russian internet forum discussions on medieval history, and the Cold War era transnational information circulation.
Hannu Salmi is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Turku, Finland, and was nominated Academy Professor for the years 2017–2021. He is a historian of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the author of volumes such as Nineteenth-Century Europe (2008) and What is Digital History? (2020).
Bruce Johnson is a jazz musician and has been an arts policy advisor to Australian state and federal governments. With Hannu Salmi, he was the co-founder of the International Institute for Popular Culture, and his current research lies in music, acoustic cultural history, and the emergence of modernity.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Yves Montand in the USSR
Book Subtitle: Cultural Diplomacy and Mixed Messages
Authors: Mila Oiva, Hannu Salmi, Bruce Johnson
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69048-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-69047-2Published: 30 April 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-69050-2Published: 30 April 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-69048-9Published: 29 April 2021
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 234
Number of Illustrations: 38 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour
Topics: Cultural Policy and Politics, Film History, European Culture, Music, Popular Culture , Cultural History