| Abstract [eng] |
This paper examines the inculcation of emotions during the Brezhnev era in Soviet Lithuania through the analysis of the magazine “Jaunimo gretos”. The object of the research is the emotion regime and its discourses, while the research problem concerns how emotions were constructed, regulated, and normalized as part of political governance in the late Soviet period during the transition from totalitarianism to authoritarianism. The main aim of the thesis is to reveal how emotions functioned as an instrument of political power and ideological control during the Brezhnev era, allowing the Soviet regime to regulate everyday life not primarily through administrative or repressive means, but through discourse and emotional norms. To achieve this aim, the thesis sets several objectives: to present and systematize theoretical approaches to emotions, emotional regimes, and emotives, to apply these concepts to the analysis of Soviet media discourse; to identify the dominant emotional norms promoted in “Jaunimo gretos”; and to examine the dynamics and specificity of the Brezhnev-era emotional regime. The central research questions guiding the study are: how were desirable emotions defined and promoted in Soviet media; what emotional norms and hierarchies were constructed; and how these norms sought to shape individual subjectivity and private life. The conclusion of the research is that, despite the mitigation of repressions, the emotional regime remained predominantly strict and controlling, relying on internalization rather than overt coercion. The analysis focuses on several key discourses through which emotions were inculcated: self-control, pedagogy, medicine and science, and romantic love. The findings demonstrate that emotions were hierarchized according to their perceived social and “human” value, with “higher,” socially oriented emotions being promoted and “lower,” biologically framed emotions being disciplined and regulated. The thesis contributes to the study of Soviet history and the sociology of emotions by highlighting the importance of emotional governance in late socialism and by providing an empirical analysis based on Lithuanian material. It demonstrates that emotions were a central component of ideological control and offers insights relevant to broader discussions of power, subjectivity, and emotional regulation in authoritarian regimes. |
