The Total Art of Stalinism

"Artists can make a hash of society as completely as the most cynical of politicians." -Boston Globe

From the ruins of communism, this book emerges to provoke our interest in the aesthetic goals pursued with such catastrophic consequences by its founders. Interpreting totalitarian art and literature in the context of cultural history, it includes an essay that likens totalitarian aims to the modernists' goal of producing world transformative art.From the ruins of communism, Boris Groys emerges to provoke our interest in the aesthetic goals pursued with such catastrophic consequences by its founders. Interpreting totalitarian art and literature in the context of cultural history, this brilliant essay likens totalitarian aims to the modernists' goal of producing world-transformative art. In this new edition, Groys revisits the debate that the book has stimulated since its first publication.