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Songs for Fat People

Affect, Emotion, and Celebrity in the Russian Popular Song, 1900-1955

David MacFadyen author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:McGill-Queen's University Press

Published:25th Nov '02

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Songs for Fat People cover

In this third and final part of his history of the twentieth-century popular entertainment form estrada, David MacFadyen examines changes in the Russian song from the passionate gypsy romances of the late nineteenth century, through their inclusion in Sov

During this period estrada - which includes comedy, literary readings, and circus arts as well as popular song - saw the birth of tangos, foxtrots, waltzes, and big bands. MacFadyen shows how a nomadic art form survived the pressures of business before the 1917 Revolution and those of politics afterwards.The author traces the careers of early singers such as Izabella Iur'eva, Tamara Tsereteli, and others who struggled to continue to perform as they fled the dangers of a Soviet society that had little patience for cafe-culture. MacFadyen follows their trail through Eastern Europe to Paris and London, then across to New York and San Francisco, and back into Russia through the smoky, emigre bars of colourful Chinese towns. He pays particular attention to the notion of "mass" songs inside the Soviet Union and explores the relationship of official and public approval. By looking at how these performers used success at home and abroad to become recording stars, film stars, and eventually television personalities, MacFadyen avoids the conventional dichotomies about the East Block to show the complexity of Soviet culture.

MacFadyen provides a sophisticated view of Soviet popular culture that focuses on the genuine popularity of estrada and on the extent that popular appeal operated independently from, if not in opposition to the main trajectory of Soviet politics. He presents a unique and valuable perspective and there is currently nothing comparable available in English or Russian for this period. Amy Nelson, History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

ISBN: 9780773524415

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

376 pages