Collective labor values in «Thaw» cinema
Abstract
This article provides a semiotic analysis of the representation of collective labor values in Soviet cinema during the «Thaw» period (1953–1964). It is argued that, under the demythologization of Stalinist discourse and the influence of Western neorealism, a fundamental transformation of ideological codes is taking place. The values of collective labor, previously conveyed openly and monumentally, are now relegated to an implicit, problematic realm. Using key films of the era (The Fate of a Man, Ballad of a Soldier, Clear Sky, Ivan's Childhood, and others), the authors identify key binary oppositions (individual/collective, duty/happiness, trust/suspicion), visual signs of trauma, and narrative structures through which cinema explores the cost of collective heroism for the individual. The authors conclude that the semiotic method is most adequate for decoding this new, complex sign system, where labor is presented not as a feat but as a burden, therapy, or an act of private charity, and the collective disintegrates into a community of individuals bound by the shared trauma of war.