Cosmonaut - by Cathleen S Lewis (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Examining material and cultural representations of the cosmonaut program, Cathleen Lewis discusses how the public image of the Soviet cosmonaut developed beginning in the 1950s and the ways this icon has been reinterpreted throughout the years and in contemporary Russia"--

Book Synopsis

How the public image of the Soviet cosmonaut was
designed and reimagined over time

In
this book, Cathleen Lewis discusses how the public image of the Soviet
cosmonaut developed beginning in the 1950s and the ways this icon has been
reinterpreted throughout the years and in contemporary Russia. Compiling
material and cultural representations of the cosmonaut program, Lewis provides
a new perspective on the story of Soviet spaceflight, highlighting how the government
has celebrated figures such as Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova through newspapers,
radio, parades, monuments, museums, films, and even postage stamps and lapel
pins.

Lewis's analysis shows that during the Space
Race, Nikita Khrushchev mobilized cosmonaut stories and images to symbolize the
forward-looking Soviet state and distract from the costs of the Cold War. Public
perceptions shifted after the first Soviet spaceflight fatality and failure to
reach the Moon, yet cosmonaut imagery was still effective propaganda, evolving
through the USSR's collapse in 1991 and seen today in Vladimir Putin's government
cooperation for a film on the 1985 rescue of the Salyut 7 space station. Looking
closely at the process through which Russians continue to reexamine their past,
Lewis argues that the cultural memory of spaceflight remains especially potent among
other collective Soviet memories.

Review Quotes

"An innovative study
of pop culture, memorabilia, propaganda, and hero worship, Cosmonaut
brings the Soviet space program to life from inside Soviet society."--Foreword
Reviews

"A revealing inside look at America's counterparts in the space race during the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union. . . . It is well worth reading."--National Space Society