Dylan’s Nobel Prize For Literature Speech
Wipe it Clean — the Metaphysics of Surface in the Twentieth Century Russian Novel
The vanishing of Soviet power at the end of the century did nothing to undo the primacy of the image. Indeed, the first decades of post-Soviet Russia coincided with a period of intense image-proliferation. Never have citizens been bombarded by so much surface: broadcast into their living rooms, carried in their hands. Yet the Russian state has proved itself proficient at keeping a firm grip on the sources of these images. We all live in a world of surfaces, today. In Russia, the state retains a central role in their manipulation and distribution.
By Thomas Evans.