Stalin's Grand Style. Gesamtkunstwerk als Industriepalast

This article addresses one of the most reputable interpretations of Soviet Stalinist culture as "total work of art" (Gesamtkunstwerk), which reflects the totalitarian pretensions of communism and at the same time covers the all-encompassing ambitions of Russian and Soviet avant-garde movements with their close involvement in shaping the cultural policy of the Bolsheviks and the Soviet regime. The author proposes to examine this interpretation (which was offered almost two decades ago by Boris Groys) in the context of the genesis of avant-garde and modernity, starting from the first doctrines of modern totality in Richard Wagner (the conception of "synthetic art"), in modern architecture and in the practices of industrialization. According to his hypothesis, Groys' interpretation is based to a large extent on the works of Hans Sedlmayr, although it diverges from them in some crucial aspects (to which special attention is paid). Appealing to Sedlmayr's theory of "the loss of the center," the author attempts to give a historical (as opoosed to a publicist or a journalistic) dimension to the interpretation in his consideration. In this context, the Factory becomes primary image of totality, as a form of realisation in history of the cultural myth that concerns the Tower of Babel. This image helps us to understand the art of Stalin's era and Stalinism en bloc as a particular case of industrialism and industrial totality in the West.