Propaganda on the Margins: Bruno Schulz's Soviet Illustrations, 1940–41

2018/01/01 by Stanley Bill · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics #Eastern European Communism and Reforms #Polish Historical and Cultural Studies

paper · doi:10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.96.3.0432

openalex publication_date 2018/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/05

Abstract

In 2016, Ukrainian historians uncovered a previously unknown set of propaganda illustrations produced by the Polish-Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schulz (1892–1942) for the Soviet newspaper, Bil'shovits'ka Pravda (Bolshevik Truth) in 1940–41 during the occupation of eastern Poland. This article presents the first comprehensive interpretations of the newly discovered materials in their social, political and historical contexts. The article uses a range of contextual evidence and interpretive approaches to argue that the illustrations represented a type of artistic mimicry, as Schulz resituated himself in new social and political circumstances. The article also argues that Schulz may have included subversive content in some of the illustrations.

Cited by

• Bibliography of the Soviet Union during World War II [wikipedia]

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