IDENTIFICATION OF THE ANTI-RELIGIOUS POLICY OF THE STALINIST TOTALITARIAN REGIME THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE SATIRIC AND HUMOROUS MAGAZINE “RED PEPPER” (1927–1934)

Abstract

One of the strategic directions of Stalin’s totalitarian regime was its anti-religious policy, which intensified in the late 1920s – early 1930s. In order to clarify the specific features of the Bolshevik struggle against religious and church institutions, it is necessary to involve various types of sources, among which mass media played a decisive role. Soviet mass media were always an effective tool in shaping the desired public attitudes. Therefore, studying their activities makes it possible to highlight the technologies of Stalin’s totalitarian policy regarding the organization and implementation of anti-religious propaganda. An important role in constructing a positive image of the communist authorities through the bipolar antagonistic paradigm of “us–them”, with correspondingly negative connotations of numerous internal and external enemies, was played by the satirical-humorous magazine Chervonyi Perets (“Red Pepper”). Thanks to its specific humorous language, the magazine’s content quickly gained popularity and became understandable to different social strata. Carefully selected professional staff, through persuasive verbal and visual means, systematically imposed the “correct” myths and stereotypes. As a result, official humor was transformed into an instrument of intimidation, persecution, and manipulation. The main narratives of anti-religious propaganda encouraged the clergy to renounce their rank and believers to renounce their faith; to close churches; to destroy religious attributes; to nationalize church property; to strengthen atheistic education, etc. In addition to the clergy, the authorities deliberately waged their anti-religious struggle specifically against the poorly educated Ukrainian peasantry, which had always shown the highest level of religiosity. The policy of collectivization and anti-religious pressure provoked peasant resistance and an insurgent movement, which became the most widespread in the Soviet Union. Stalin’s regime consciously turned the Ukrainian peasant into one of its irreconcilable internal enemies – the “kulak” and the “accomplice of the clergy”.