Soviet City Cinema: Approaches to Historical Research

Abstract

The article is devoted to the methodology of studying the Soviet era city cinema as a social space. It presents a historiographic review of research in this direction, which shows that the city cinema, as the central link in the practice of “going to the cinema”, was an important independent element of everyday life, and its social space was historically changeable and shaped by several stakeholders (government, administration of the cinema network, and viewers). For a full-fledged historical analysis of a cinema, additional specific sources are required. As the main concept for studying the cinema, the authors propose to use the theory of the philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre, formulated in his book "The production of space" (1974). According to the French thinker, space in a broad sense can be physical (material component), mental (rational principle) and social (social practices and relationships). As a result of their social activity, people influence all types of spaces, with the process of production of space, physical, mental, and social, taking place within society. If we apply Lefebvre's theory to study the cinema as a cultural phenomenon, it should be investigated at three levels: “representation of space” (material forms), “spatial practices” (management and functioning), “space of representation” (experience and interpretation of “going to the cinema"). For each level of studying the cinema as a social space, different types of historical sources are utilized, the characteristics of which are presented in the article. In this context, along with other sources, attention is paid to sources of personal origin (ego-documents).