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On Monday, February 22, 2021, Miami University\u2019s Havighurst\nCenter for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies welcomed its second guest lecturer\nof the semester, Dr. Stephen Norris. Dr. Norris is the director of the\nHavighurst Center and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of\nVirginia; his talk explored the life and works of renowned Soviet satirist and political\ncartoonist Boris Efimov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is laughter? A physical reaction consisting of rhythmic\ncontractions of one\u2019s diaphragm? Could it even serve as a weapon? In the\nopinions of Boris Efimov, as Norris argued, laughter is surely both. No one\nenjoys being laughed at because laughter has a remarkable ability to create a\nsense of solidarity among those who can laugh together and isolation among\nthose being ridiculed. As a political cartoonist, Boris Efimov used this power\nof laughter to influence Soviet culture through his politically aimed cartoons.\nEfimov, who realized the particular ability of cartoons to leave a \u201cfast,\nfunny, and persuasive\u201d impression on viewers, sought to use this satirical tool\nto educate Soviet citizens and create a unified communist consciousness and Soviet\nidentity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Efimov was a political cartoonist for the Soviet Union for\n74 years, the entirety of the USSR\u2019s history. As Norris estimated, Efimov\npublished at least one cartoon for every three days of the Soviet Union\u2019s\nexistence. Efimov, first and foremost, viewed himself as an artist whose job it\nwas to create authentic connections between his works and Soviet citizens.\nCentral to both Efimov\u2019s cartoons and Norris\u2019 lecture is the idea of using\nSoviet laughter as a weapon in the struggle to build socialism. During the 20th<\/sup>\ncentury Soviet culture often relied on framing the enemy in a manner that made\nit easy for citizens to mock, a tactic that continues to have echoes today. Efimov\u2019s\nsatirical images during World War II and the Cold War took sharp jabs at\npolitical leaders and their policies, thus helping to define these conflicts\nfor Soviet viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The power of laughter in serving Efimov\u2019s ends can be\nunderstood by its ability to create a sense of \u201cotherness\u201d where those who\nlaugh together, at someone or something, successfully distinguish themselves\nfrom who or what they are mocking. Efimov\u2019s cartoons targeted the cultural\nimposition of the West, capitalist greed, fascism, and other threats to the\nconstruction of Soviet socialism during the 20th<\/sup> century. Whether it\nwas the depiction of Uncle Sam as the master puppeteer, the exaggerated\ncaricatures of land-grabbing fascists, or the secret hands of Western\ncapitalists, Efimov sought to create a unique Soviet humor that validated the\nworld views of Soviet leadership and Soviet citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state-censored media in the Soviet Union made Efimov\u2019s\nimages especially impactful and makes it all the more impressive that Efimov\nand his cartoons were able to prosper and proliferate for as long as the Soviet\nUnion existed. Efimov rarely portrayed Soviet leadership in his cartoons, which\nalmost exclusively focused on mocking the \u201cotherness\u201d of the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite his own brother\u2019s execution during the Stalinist\npurges, Efimov continued to draw for the Soviet paper, Izvestiia<\/em>, until the USSR\u2019s collapse. Moreover, throughout his\nartistic career, Efimov noted the importance of continually sharpening his\nsatirical tools to rally against the threat posed by the West against the\nSoviet Union. Efimov and his works\nreached generations of Soviet citizens, and his role in shaping Soviet culture\nagainst the West demonstrates how his cartoons represented an intentional\nweapon on behalf of himself and the Soviet system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yuri Klinkenbergh is completing a combined BA\/MA in Political\nScience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Yuri Klinkenbergh On Monday, February 22, 2021, Miami University\u2019s Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies welcomed its second guest lecturer of the semester, Dr. Stephen Norris. Dr. Norris is the director of the Havighurst Center and received his … Continue reading