Academic literature on the topic 'Little magazines Australia History 20th century'

The 2021 publication of the MGIMO editorial, a textbook called Russian Magazines of the 19th — early 20th Centuries is a collection of articles by the faculty of the School of international journalism. The collection gives an idea of the formation and development of Russian journalism at the turn of the centuries, the Silver age of the Russian culture. It is this period that is marked by epochal events that have radically changed the life of society. Thick magazines, the subject of research in this collection, were the mouthpiece of not only socio-political, but also cultural events. Having appeared at the end of the 18th century, they acquired real spread in late 19th century, making the sphere of Russian journalism flourish and develop the professional standards. The thick periodical magazines were brought to life by the peculiar conditions of Russia’s development. Such magazines were not only a literary and artistic collection, but also a political newspaper that embodied the dialogue traditions of both conservatives and radicals. Readers of literary magazines and the authors of articles shaped the intellectual environment that determined the cultural advancement of the country and became significant point on the cultural landscape themselves. In the historical and cultural context of this period, the textbook helpfully explains a few little-known facts from the life of the authors whose publications and editorial activities determined the fate of the journals. Until now, such journals as Bozhii mir (God’s World) and several others have not been the subject of scientific interest. Therefore, the novelty and of the research conducted is important. The authors offer the explanation of why they choose this specific set of magazines. It is due to the place they had the process of formation and development of Russian journalism. The textbook emphasizes that the magazines published not only fiction works, their role was much more significant: they were the arena of political and literary struggle, gave the floor to express certain aesthetic or social principles and represented a type of a popular encyclopedia, thus acting as providers of education. In this way, among the instances why the textbook is of interest for educational purposes one should mention that the history of journalism of the period is reflected in the history of Russian culture.

Anorexia Nervosa is a mental health issue that has a history over many centuries, but has relatively recently been identified as a ‘real’ mental illness. A condition that predominantly afflicts young, middle class women it had long been subsumed among the ‘natural weaknesses’ of women, not unlike the manner in which ‘Hysteria’ was diagnosed within the Freudian understanding of women’s health. However, since the 1970s, and especially with the deaths of some high profile young women it has undergone a reassessment. While clinical understandings of Anorexia Nervosa remain contentious, there is an increasing recognition that the condition is also grounded within specific cultural understandings. The article presents a brief historical overview of the construction of ‘self-starvation’ as applied to ‘fasting saints’ and to modern anorexic women. However, the major focus of the paper is an examination of the cultural situation as exemplified in contemporary Australia. Drawing on the Foucaudian notions of self surveillance the article suggests that TV programs can be used as a vehicle for modern day ‘self surveillance ’and as guidelines for the construction of self. Briefly, TV programs, especially so called ‘reality TV,’ portray a mirror image of how we as consumers should behave. The programs I have chosen to highlight are the phenomenally popular cooking shows that are aired daily on Australian TV screens. Through an examination of the social meanings constructed around food with the TV programs as a primary carrier of these cultural references, the article seeks to address some of the contradictions with other images presented in different but contemporaneous media. While this can never be a definitive explanation of all anorectic behavior, the paper examines the images of womanhood as presented by these programs. These ‘competent and enthusiastic cooks’ are contrasted with the slim, athletic ideal as portrayed in the fashion magazines and many other ‘lifestyle’ TV programs such as holiday shows.

This paper critically considers the history of nuclear energy in Australia, placing particular emphasis on the strong debate about uranium mining and exporting which occurred between the late 1960s and early 1980s. Though this topic has been already analyzed by different historical studies and through numerous methodological approaches, some issues of the Australian as well as international ‘atomic debate’ which involved civil uses of nuclear power in the second half of the 20th century remain under-investigated. This article, for instance, focuses on the little-known and seldom popularized history of Synroc which, in the late 1970s, was presented as the ‘geological perspective’ to deal with radioactive waste disposal. The matters under discussion here are particularly important because of their links with some key issues still prevalent in the international nuclear debate, such as nuclear safety, atomic weapons proliferation and the safe disposal of nuclear wastes.

Abstract. In the late 19th century, Charles Egeson, a map compiler at the Sydney Observatory, carried out some of the earliest research on climatic cycles, linking them to about 33-year cycles in solar activity, and predicted that a devastating drought would strike Australia at the turn of the 20th century. Eduard Brückner and William J. S. Lockyer, who, like Egeson, found similar cycles, with notable exceptions, are also, like the map compiler, mostly forgotten. But the transtridecadal cycles are important in human physiology, economics and other affairs and are particularly pertinent to ongoing discusions of climate change. Egeson's publication of daily weather reports preceded those officially recorded. Their publication led to clashes with his superiors and his personal life was marked by run-ins with the law and, possibly, an implied, but not proven, confinement in an insane asylum and premature death. We here track what little is known of Egeson's life and of his bucking of the conventional scientific wisdom of his time with tragic results.

The article describes the process of work on researching Soviet musicology of the time period from the 1920s to the 1940s. The study was carried out under the RFBR project “The Phenomenon of Soviet Musicology and Its Influence on the Formation of Russian Musical Culture.” The history of Soviet musicology is studied on the basis of archival documents that make it possible to reconstruct little-known historical events, and also to characterize the peculiarities of musicology in the context of each decade. The first post-revolutionary decade passed under the sign of the search for its own academic scholarly institutions, which were alternately made available and then closed down, in accordance with the state policy. However, it was during this period that the fundamental foundations of 20th century Russian musicological thought were laid. Of special interest is the work on creating a complex of tutorial literature. Starting from 1936 (since the time of the creation of the All-Union Committee for the Affairs of Art), work on creating textbooks has become one of the main forms of scholarly activity of the musicological departments of the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatories, later the Gnesins’ State Musical Pedagogical Institute and the Institute of Art History of the USSR Academy of Sciences (presently, the State Institute of Art Studies), both established in 1944. Discussions of issues of paramount importance – such as the historical periodization of Russian music history, the content and methodology of training courses, – frequently took place for many days in a row, with the results of the discussion reflected in the central newspapers and magazines. The transcripts of these sessions, in certain cases, exceed 1,500 pages. An important direction of this research was also the study of the main directions in the development of musicology. Along with the creation of textbooks, monographs and other academic works, dissertation work began in the 1930s–1940s. This contributed to a great extent to the integration of musicology into the general scholarly humanitarian field. In the same period, numerous discussions of new Soviet compositions began – primarily, operas and symphonies.

Vanda Juhansoo. Artist or Eccentric Woman?Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design18.01.–01.03.2020, Tartu City Museum 19.06.–26.09.2021.Exhibition curated by: Andreas Kalkun (Estonian Literary Museum)and Rebeka Põldsam, graphic design: Stuudio Stuudio. Vanda Juhansoo (1889–1966) was by education a porcelain painter and furniture designer; she was, however, known as a textile and craft artist, traveller, polyglot, notable art teacher, interior decorator, advocate of women’s craft, soroptimist and gardener. Sometimes she was also known as the ‘Witch of Valgemetsa’. She graduated from the Central School of Applied Arts Ateneum in Finland, which makes her one of the first Estonian women artists with a higher education at the beginning of the 20th century. Even though Vanda Juhansoo specialised in ceramics and furniture design, as a student she received the most recognition (as well as travel grants) for her embroidery. From then on, Vanda spent her next thirty summers travelling in Europe. Between 1912 and 1945, she exhibited her ceramics, embroidered doilies and curtains in various places, including the first ever Estonian women artists’ show in 1939. Vanda Juhansoo worked with the Kodukäsitöö limited company, that had been established in 1927 with the aim of reducing unemployment among women. Alongside craft and women’s magazines, the Kodukäsitöö was the most significant promoter of women’s craft in Estonia, regularly organising exhibition-sales and taking Estonian craft to international shows. Unfortunately, most of Vanda Juhansoo’s oeuvre was so ephemeral that there is very little trace of it now. The Karilatsi Open Air Museum near Vanda’s home in Valgemetsa and the collection of the Estonian National Museum hold items given to the museum by Vanda’s cousin’s family, which Vanda herself most likely wore – these are made to fit her petite size and there are photos of Vanda wearing these garments. Her signature style used floral motifs embroidered onto the thin textiles she wove herself. Like a painter, she spent hours embroidering, casting ethnographic patterns aside when creating her original designs. Even though the Estonian National Museum has exhibited Vanda Juhansoo’s embroidered cardigans as examples of Estonian folk art, these are, in fact, clearly original artistic designs. After World War II, Vanda stopped exhibiting and publishing her patterns in craft magazines. Instead, she committed herself to teaching drawing and supervised a number of children’s art classes in Tartu that produced many wellknown artists. The memory of Vanda has largely been kept alive by her students, who remember her as a particularly bright and optimistic person. In addition to her embroidery, Vanda’s original style remained visible as she expressed it in her memorable multicoloured hair nets and abundant jewellery, as well as in the striking Valgemetsa summer house and garden. The curators tried to trace back and recreate some of the wonderful world that Vanda created all around herself with her designs, handicraft, paintings, photos and memories from museums, archives, and from people who knew her. Looking at the life, work and legacy of Vanda Juhansoo, the exhibition asked: What were the choices for women artists in Estonia at the beginning of the 20th century? Why are Vanda’s works found mainly in the collections of ethnographic memory institutions rather than in art museums? Why did Vanda become the so-called ‘Witch of Valgemetsa’ and not a recognised applied artist? In the present review, the reception of the exhibition is summarised and juxtaposed with the few studies on Vanda Juhansoo’s textile work from the perspective of craft studies and the history of applied art.

Vanda Juhansoo. Artist or Eccentric Woman?Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design18.01.–01.03.2020, Tartu City Museum 19.06.–26.09.2021.Exhibition curated by: Andreas Kalkun (Estonian Literary Museum)and Rebeka Põldsam, graphic design: Stuudio Stuudio. Vanda Juhansoo (1889–1966) was by education a porcelain painter and furniture designer; she was, however, known as a textile and craft artist, traveller, polyglot, notable art teacher, interior decorator, advocate of women’s craft, soroptimist and gardener. Sometimes she was also known as the ‘Witch of Valgemetsa’. She graduated from the Central School of Applied Arts Ateneum in Finland, which makes her one of the first Estonian women artists with a higher education at the beginning of the 20th century. Even though Vanda Juhansoo specialised in ceramics and furniture design, as a student she received the most recognition (as well as travel grants) for her embroidery. From then on, Vanda spent her next thirty summers travelling in Europe. Between 1912 and 1945, she exhibited her ceramics, embroidered doilies and curtains in various places, including the first ever Estonian women artists’ show in 1939. Vanda Juhansoo worked with the Kodukäsitöö limited company, that had been established in 1927 with the aim of reducing unemployment among women. Alongside craft and women’s magazines, the Kodukäsitöö was the most significant promoter of women’s craft in Estonia, regularly organising exhibition-sales and taking Estonian craft to international shows. Unfortunately, most of Vanda Juhansoo’s oeuvre was so ephemeral that there is very little trace of it now. The Karilatsi Open Air Museum near Vanda’s home in Valgemetsa and the collection of the Estonian National Museum hold items given to the museum by Vanda’s cousin’s family, which Vanda herself most likely wore – these are made to fit her petite size and there are photos of Vanda wearing these garments. Her signature style used floral motifs embroidered onto the thin textiles she wove herself. Like a painter, she spent hours embroidering, casting ethnographic patterns aside when creating her original designs. Even though the Estonian National Museum has exhibited Vanda Juhansoo’s embroidered cardigans as examples of Estonian folk art, these are, in fact, clearly original artistic designs. After World War II, Vanda stopped exhibiting and publishing her patterns in craft magazines. Instead, she committed herself to teaching drawing and supervised a number of children’s art classes in Tartu that produced many wellknown artists. The memory of Vanda has largely been kept alive by her students, who remember her as a particularly bright and optimistic person. In addition to her embroidery, Vanda’s original style remained visible as she expressed it in her memorable multicoloured hair nets and abundant jewellery, as well as in the striking Valgemetsa summer house and garden. The curators tried to trace back and recreate some of the wonderful world that Vanda created all around herself with her designs, handicraft, paintings, photos and memories from museums, archives, and from people who knew her. Looking at the life, work and legacy of Vanda Juhansoo, the exhibition asked: What were the choices for women artists in Estonia at the beginning of the 20th century? Why are Vanda’s works found mainly in the collections of ethnographic memory institutions rather than in art museums? Why did Vanda become the so-called ‘Witch of Valgemetsa’ and not a recognised applied artist? In the present review, the reception of the exhibition is summarised and juxtaposed with the few studies on Vanda Juhansoo’s textile work from the perspective of craft studies and the history of applied art.

The period between the end of 19th century – the first half of the 20th century had been very important for Lithuanians and Latvians as a time, when the rights of the national language and culture had been strengthened and fortified. The rich sociocultural context, which appears in the children’s periodicals of that time, allows to evaluate the efforts of the nation in order to define and keep the borders of traditional culture. The investigation of children’s periodicals also helps to reconstruct the field of national literature of that time. The aim of the paper is to investigate, what changes of the traditional culture appear in the Lithuanian and Latvian children’s periodicals, published before 1940. Some aspects of the nation’s location in the time and space are being stressed, such as: marking of the nation’s culture and territory borders, institutionalization of the national calendar and construction of the historical memory. The investigation is based on the comparative analysis of the main Lithuanian and Latvian children’s periodicals, which were published before 1940: Lithuanian – “Šaltinėlis” (‘a little spring’, 1906–1914; 1928–1940), “Žiburėlis” (‘a little torch’, 1920–1944), “Žvaigždutė” (‘a little star’, 1923–1940), “Kregždutė” (‘a little swallow’, 1934–1940), “Vyturys” (‘a lark’ 1931, 1935–1940); Latvian – “Bērnu Pastnieks” (‘children’s postman’, 1866–1869), “Jaunības Draugs” (‘the friend of the youth’, 1901–1904), “Jaunības Tekas” (‘the paths of the youth’, 1910–1915; 1920–1930), “Bitīte” (‘a little bee’, 1912–1916), “Latvijas Jaunatne” (‘the youth of Latvia’, 1924–1940), “Cīrulītis” (‘a little lark’, 1923–1940), “Jaunais Cīrulītis” (‘the new little lark’, 1926–1934). Due to the confessional and some historical similarities between Lithuanians and Latgalians, there are also two Catholic Latgalian magazines –“Sauleite” (‘the little sun’, 1926–1940) and “Katōļu Dzeive” (‘the life of Catholics’, 1926–1940) – analyzed, despite the fact, that they were aimed at both children and youth. The theoretical background of the research is based on the works of sociologists and anthropologists of culture (Benedict Anderson, Anthony D. Smith, Orvar Löfgren), as well as on some theories of media (Denis McQuail, Herbert Marshall McLuhan). The binary opposition of the the self and the other (Löfgren 1991: 105, Smith 1994: 20–22) is being used as a border marker of the traditional culture in the texts of children’s periodicals. The borders of traditional culture in the children’s periodicals change depending on the fact, who and when is talking in the name of the nation – priests, teachers, supporters of the different ideological or confessional camps. As a result of the individually made or institutionary censored editorial selection of textual material, the national culture is being institutionalized and subordinated for the realization of different purposes. The language of the ethnic group is the first thing the national press institutionalizes, and that helps the community to imagine itself (Anderson 1999). The symbolic value of the language is absent in such Latvian children’s magazines as “Bērnu Pastnieks” and “Bitīte”, which were edited by the priests of German origin and were published only for the purpose of religious education. The language, as well as nation’s territorial location, had mostly been emphasized in the Lithuanian children’s periodicals. The declarative tendency of self-defining (names of periodicals, maps, lists of the readers’, collective photos of the children, explanations about nationality and the state) indicates the existing mechanism of the nation’s territory and culture defense. The defensive politics in Lithuania was established as a result of the traumatic experience of the long-lasting repressive actions (Lithuanian press ban (1864–1904), the occupation of Vilnius district by Polish nationalists (1919–1939) etc.). The Latvian language as the national symbol was presented in the Latvian children’s magazines “Jaunības Draugs”, “Jaunības Tekas” and “Cīrulītis”, but its symbolic capital was being increased by the actualization of traditional culture (folklore), native literature and national historic memory (the biographies of distinguished Latvians, nation’s relations with antiquity, nobles or saints). The periodicity and cyclic recurrence of the periodicals had institutionalized the time and the rhythm of the readers’ life. In the context of nation’s efforts of self- determination in time and space, the changes of the traditional culture borders are best seen in the traditions of commemoration of the dead. The interpretations of the commemoration of the dead depend on, what is being emphasized – the end of the individual person’s life or the death in the context of nations history. The discourse of death and the commemoration of the dead have been actualized mostly in the issues of children’s periodicals, published during the period between October and December. This period according to folkloristic Baltic tradition was called as a period of souls and was celebrated with the rituals of soul-feeding and gratitude to the souls of forefathers. The Christian liturgical day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (in Catholic tradition) or the Day of all Souls (in the Protestant tradition) were not directly included in the calendar of children’s periodicals until 1918. But there were a lot of published texts, actualizing the theme of orphans as well as a lot of traditional genres, which were characteristic to that period of the year, e. g., tales about orphans and beggars, mythological stories about roaming souls etc. In the independent Latvia the traditional mood of the period in Latvian children’s periodicals was covered by the celebration of proclamation of the state (November 18) and the commemoration of the perished in the battles for independence. In Lithuanian and Latgalian periodicals of that time (“Šaltinėlis”, “Žvaigždutė”, “Kregždutė”, “Sauleite”) the Catholic liturgical celebration of Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed was institutionalized (the very name of it appeared in the titles of publications, children were asked to pray for the souls of the dead relatives, etc.), which helped to keep the traditional themes and genres. The necessity to construct historical memory of the children and to educate them in patriotic mood widened the meaning of the commemoration day (children were asked to pray for national heroes and to look after graves of buried soldiers). The tendency to organize official ceremonial commemoration of the dead had influenced traditions in the private field – in the middle of the 30s the children are encouraged not only to pray for the souls of their dead relatives, but also to look after their graves and to take part in the mass celebrations – all that indicated the nations efforts to inscribe history of individuals in the history of the nation. The representation and explanation of the national traditions and rituals in the children’s periodicals not only constructed the national identity of the young readers, but also strengthened their place in the national community and supplemented the understanding of the nation’s whole, its history and future. Children in the periodicals of the time were shown as ones, who inherit and pass on the traditions to the future generations.

Samizdat materials are a huge collection of documents of different genres that can be viewed in the context of the dissident phenomenon in the USSR. Only the latest decade saw the intensive growth of scientific interest to this phenomenon, and, therefore, these historical records require further interpretation and analysis; the latter became the main purposes of the monograph reviewed. The study combines both theoretical and historical aspects of studying Soviet samizdat. The term “samizdat” is understood in its wider sense, not only as fiction prohibited for publication, but also as a product of social, political, journalistic, human rights and other activities. At the same time, emphasis is placed on historical sources that allow documenting the human rights process. Samizdat is considered in three aspects: as a phenomenon of the 20th century supplementing official culture; as a kind of self-organization, self-reflection of society, a sign of intellectual reaction and an information channel; and as a historical source that makes it possible to study Soviet society and its reaction to state policy. This enables the author to present a representative and fairly complete picture of Russian samizdat. The notion “samizdat” is thoroughly analyzed, as well as the problem of the scientific classification of samizdat documents. The new classification system is demanded to be more detailed, presenting a complex structure, which takes into account various types and content of these historical sources. Working out a well-developed classification should ensure the use of available sources and their information potential. The book describes the sources of some varieties of samizdat documents: open letters, appeals and statements of protest, court proceedings, collections of documents. In a separate chapter, self-published magazines are analyzed as one of the most convincing manifestations of the various opposition movements organizational design. Particular attention is paid to the bulletin A Chronicle of Current Events, which has played an important role in reporting on human rights violations, disseminating the ideas of human rights defenders and maintaining links between human rights groups and organizations as a consolidating information center. The first issue of the Chronicle of 1968 is presented in the book as a holistic text, from the list of headings to the definition of the semantic strategy of the periodical, its tactics of layout and design, which allows us to correlate it with the legendary Herzen’s Kolokol [Bell] both in design and in its impact on public consciousness. The bulletin structure and its main sections were formed from the first issues: “Courts”, “Arrests”, “Extra-Judicial Prosecutions”, “Searches and Interrogations”, “In Prisons and Camps”, “In Psychiatric Hospitals”, “Persecution of Believers”, “Right to Leave”, “Jewish Movement”, “Through the Pages of the Soviet press”, “In Exile”, “Official Documents”, “Samizdat News”, etc. The analysis of other quite numerous samizdat magazines (Politicheskiy Dnevnik [Political Diary], Obshchestvennye Problemy [Social Problems], Veche, Vestnik Spaseniya [Herald of Salvation], Iskhod [Exodus], Vestnik Iskhoda [Herald of Exodus], Belaya Kniga Iskhoda [White Book of Exodus], etc.), including the “second culture” ones (37, Chasy [Clock], Obvodnoy Kanal [Bypass Channel], Metrodor, Summa [Sum], Nadezhda [Hope], etc.), allows the author to document the well-known statement of Igor Shafarevich that with all the various shades of independent thought in our country, the unifying principle was the feeling of lack of freedom. The author pays attention to historical discourse aimed at analyzing social and political processes via studying samizdat authors’ and developers’ biographies, as well as to the history of the texts. Biographies are given briefly, most often in the form of page footnotes, but their presence adds “humanity” to historical and documentary research (for example, biographies of V. Krasin, V. Chelidze, Yu. Shikhanovich, V. Rutminsky, Gr. Fedoseev, etc.). The book discusses the main varieties of social and political samizdat – “classic” and little-studied samizdat texts. Considerable attention is paid to “provincial” students’ literary and journalistic amateur periodicals of Sverdlovsk. The almanac Nashe Tvorchestvo [Our Creativity] (Ural State University, 1946–1949), Vskhody [Shoots], V Poiskakh [In Search] (Ural State University, 1956), the Ural Pedagogical Institute wall newspaper BOKS (Boevoy Organ Komsomol’skoy Satiry [Komsomol Satire Combat Organ], 1943–1960) are analyzed for the first time in the all-Union context. Student manuscript and typewritten magazines, a typical phenomenon for Soviet universities of that time, on the one hand, became the harbingers of political samizdat, on the other hand, a consequence of the creative and spiritual upsurge that caused the exposure of the personality cult. The book concludes with a brief bibliography on the Soviet samizdat history and an appendix including well-known examples of samizdat texts (“I Can’t Be Silent!” by P. Grigorenko, “The Final Word of the Accused Bukovsky”, “The White Book of Exodus” (1972)), as well as unique graphic jokes of BOKS.

In the 1940s, the totalitarian occupying regimes of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union implemented the strictest control and ideological guidance of intellectual and spiritual life of all time in Estonia. Essentially, the mechanisms and results of control are known. Cultural life was subjected to strict pre-censorship and post-publication censorship, and in the Soviet era also to thematic dictation. The intellectual and spiritual resistance of Estonians in those years, in other words their refusal to accept the ruling ideology, has been studied very little. The most widespread way of putting up intellectual and spiritual resistance was to remain silent, in other words to avoid creating works that were agreeable to the authorities. Selective silence, that is the selection of one’s points of emphasis, and splitting, in other words writing for oneself works that one keeps in one’s drawer while at the same time writing for publication in print, are also placed in this category. Recording actual history in diaries through the eyes of contemporaries of events, reading intellectually and spiritually enjoyable literature, and other such actions were ways of putting up intellectual and spiritual resistance. The main objective of this study is to ascertain in historical context the attempts to put up intellectual and spiritual resistance in the comedies from the 1940s by Hugo Raudsepp (1883–1952), one of the most outstanding Estonian playwrights of the 20th century. Ideologically speaking, dramatic literature was clearly one of the most vulnerable branches of literature. It was created for public presentation in theatres, after all, for which reason authors had to be particularly careful in their wording. On the other hand, plays provided both authors and directors with opportunities to conceal messages between the lines. For this reason, theatre became exceedingly popular in Estonia by the final decades of the Soviet era. The ridicule and mocking of the Soviet regime were especially enjoyed. The subjugation of Estonian intellectual and spiritual life to the ideological requirements of the occupying regime was launched at the time of pre-war Stalinism (1940–1941). Its aim was to rear Soviet-minded people who would help to justify, fortify and enhance the Soviet regime. The systematic control of the activities of creative persons and the working out of dictates and regulations were nevertheless not yet completed during the first year of Soviet rule. Many outstanding cultural figures remained silent or earned a living by translating texts. At that time, Hugo Raudsepp wrote the non-political novel Viimne eurooplane [The Last European], which is noteworthy to this day, while his plays from the period of independent Estonian statehood were not staged in theatres. Starting with the German occupation (1941–1944), the point of departure for Hugo Raudsepp was writing between the lines in his comedies in order to get both readers and theatregoers to think and to give them strength of soul. In 1943, he wrote the comedy Vaheliku vapustused [Interspatial Jolts], which has later been styled as a masterpiece. He concealed numerous signs between the lines of this play referring to the fate of a small people, in other words Estonia, between its great neighbouring powers the Soviet Union and Germany. Performances of this play were soon banned. Performances in theatres of all other plays by Hugo Raudsepp were similarly banned, with one exception. During post-war Stalinism in 1944–51, the sovietisation of Estonian cultural life resumed. Hugo Raudsepp did not initially write on topical Soviet themes, rather he sought subject matter from earlier times. His first play from that period entitled Rotid [Rats] (1946) was about the German occupation during the Second World War and it ridiculed the occupying Germans. Raudsepp also skilfully wove messages supporting Estonian cultural identity into the play. The play was staged in the Estonia Theatre but was soon banned. Raudsepp’s second play from that period, Tagatipu Tiisenoosen (1946), earned first prize at the state comedy competition in that same year. The action in the play was set in the period of Estonian National Awakening at the end of the 19th century. It ridiculed Baltic Germans and the behaviour of parvenu Estonians. Similarly to his previous play, he demonstrated nationalist mentality in this comedy by way of nationalist songs. It is noteworthy that by the summer of 1947, Tagatipu Tiisenoosen had also reached expatriate Estonians and it was staged with an altered title as the only Stalinist- era play from Soviet Estonia in Canada (1952), Australia (1954) and Sweden (1956). The thematic precepts imposed on Estonian writers and the mechanism for ensuring that those precepts were followed became even stricter starting in 1947. Raudsepp wrote his next 7 plays on required Soviet subject matter: post-war land reform (Tillereinu peremehed [The Owners of Tillereinu], 1947), monetary reform (Noorsulane Ilmar [Ilmar the Young Farmhand], 1948), kolkhozes (Küpsuseksam [Matriculation Exam] and Lasteaed [Kindergarten], 1949, Mineviku köidikuis [In the Fetters of the Past] (1950) and his so-called Viimane näidend [Last Play], 1950 or 1951), and the beginning of the Soviet regime in Estonia in 1940 (Pööripäevad Kikerpillis [Solstices in Kikerpill], 1949). Hugo Raudsepp skilfully wove words of wisdom for Estonians on surviving under foreign rule through the mouths of his characters, or discreetly laughed about Soviet reality in a way that the censors did not grasp. Post-war cultural policy culminated with the 8th Plenum of the Estonian Communist (Bolshevist) Party (EC(B)P) Central Committee on 21–26 March 1950, where among other things, the EC(B)P Central Committee Bureau was accused of allowing the exaltation of the superiority of Western European science and culture. Cultural figures were branded bourgeois nationalists and they faced serious ordeals. The fate of the great figure of Estonian dramatic literature was very harsh. Hugo Raudsepp was depicted as a ‘fascist henchman’ in 1950. He was expelled from the Estonian Writers’ Union and was deprived of his personal pension. He was arrested on 11 May 1951. Opposition to the Soviet regime was stressed in the charges presented to him. His play Vaheliku vapustused, which the German occupying regime had banned, and his only play that was allowed at that time, Lipud tormis [Flags in the Storm], were named as the primary evidence supporting the charges. Hugo Raudsepp was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in the autumn of 1951. He hoped to the last possible moment that he would be allowed to serve his sentence in Estonia. Unfortunately, on 18 February 1952 he was sent by train from Tallinn to Narva and on 19 February on to Leningrad. From there his journey took him to Vjatka, Kirov and finally Irkutsk oblast. This great man’s health was poor, and he soon died on 15 September 1952. Very few new literary works appeared in the 1940s. The historical nadir is altogether seen in post-war book production in the era of Stalinism. Estonian theatre was similarly in a most difficult situation due to censorship, shortage of repertoire, scarcity of funding, and layoffs and sackings of theatre personnel. Nowadays the survival of theatre at the time, regardless of difficult times, is appreciated, and actors are recognised for preserving Estonian identity and uniting the people. Hugo Raudsepp’s role as a playwright in supporting intellectual and spiritual resistance to foreign authorities has to be recognised on the basis of his occupation-era comedies. Hugo Raudsepp was one of the most productive authors of his day, writing a total of 11 plays in 1943–51. According to the assessment of scholars of literature, he never once rose with these works to the leading-edge level of his previous works. It was impossible to create masterpieces that would become classics in that time of strict ideological precepts and the monitoring of their observance. Taking into consideration the extremely restricted creative conditions, his works were still masterpieces of their time. As Hugo Raudsepp’s oeuvre demonstrates, spirit still managed to cleverly trump power regardless of censorship and official precepts. The denunciation of Stalin’s personality cult in 1956 once again opened the door to the theatre for Hugo Raudsepp’s best comedies from Estonia’s era of independent statehood. The witticism and laughter of Hugo Raudsepp’s comedies gave people renewed strength of soul.

This study incorporates archival and historical research on women poets and editors and their roles in the production of modernist and/or leftist little-magazine cultures in Canada. Where the first three chapters investigate women poets who were also magazine editors and/or members of magazine groups, the fourth chapter takes account of women magazine editors who were not themselves poets. Within this framework, the dissertation relates women's editorial work and poetry to a series of crises and transitions in Canada's leftist and modernist little-magazine cultures between 1926 and 1956. This historical pattern of crisis and transition pertains at once to the poetry of Dorothy Livesay, Anne Marriott, P. K. Page, and Miriam Waddington and to the little-magazine groups in which they and other women were active as editors and/or contributing members. Chapter 1 deals with Livesay's editorial activities and poetry in the context of two magazines of the cultural left, Masses and New Frontier, between 1932 and 1937. Chapter 2 concerns Livesay, Marriott, their involvement in poetry groups in Victoria and Vancouver, and their publications in Contemporary Verse and Canadian Poetry Magazine, between 1935 and 1956. Chapter 3 addresses the poetry of Page and Waddington published in Preview and First Statement from 1942 to 1945, their poetry appearing in Contemporary Verse from 1941 to 1952--53, and their editorial activities in and/or relationships to these Montreal and Victoria - Vancouver magazine groups between 1941 and 1956. Chapter 4 documents the histories of some often forgotten women who edited modernist or leftist little magazines in Canada between 1926 and 1956. These core chapters are prefaced and concluded by histories of the antecedents to and descendants of Canadian modernist and leftist magazine cultures.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Although many of Lola Ridge's poems champion the causes of minorities and the disenfranchised, it is too easy to state that politics were the sole reason for her neglect. A simple look at well-known female poets who often wrote about social or political issues during Ridge's lifetime, such as Edna St. Vincent Millay and Muriel Rukeyser, weakens such a claim. Furthermore, Ridge's five books of poetry illustrate that many of her poems focused on themes beyond the political or social. The decisions by critics to focus on selections of Ridge's poems that do not display her ability to employ multiple aesthetics in her poetry have caused them to present her work one-dimensionally. Likewise, politically motivated critics often overlook aesthetic experiments that poets like Ridge employ in their poetry. Few poets during Ridge's time made use of such drastically varied styles, and because her work resists easy categorization (as either traditional or avant-garde), her poetry has largely gone unnoticed by modern scholars. Chapter two of my thesis focuses on a selection Ridge's social and political poems and highlights how Ridge's social poetry coupled with the multiple aesthetics she employed has played a part in her critical neglect. My findings will open up the discussion of Ridge's poetry and situate her work both politically and aesthetically, something no critic has yet attempted. Chapter three examines Ridge’s role as editor of Modern School, Others and Broom. Ridge's work for these magazines, particularly Others and Broom, places her at the center of American modernism. My examination of Ridge's social poetry and her role as editor for two leading literary magazines, in conjunction with her use of multiple aesthetics, will build a strong case for why her work deserves to be recovered.