From Internationalism to Postcolonialism

Contributor: Rossen Djagalov Rossen Djagalov is assistant professor of Russian at New York University, a research fellow at the Poletayev Institute of the Higher School of Economics, and a member of the editorial collective of LeftEast.

"This book makes a remarkable contribution to knowledge; it significantly enriches our understanding of Leftist cultural internationalism and challenges much received thinking about world literature. Djagalov's prose is learned and engaging, at times touched by healthy irony, yet never hesitant in conveying a wider sense of commitment." Galin Tihanov, Queen Mary University of London --- "From Internationalism to Postcolonialism is groundbreaking. Overturning the overwhelming focus of past scholarship on the Soviet Union's cultural and political interrelationships with Europe and the West, Djagalov casts light on the extensive network of institutions, relationships and people through which Soviet culture engaged with the global south and the developing world. In so doing, he uncovers an important and profoundly understudied genealogy for anti-imperial and post-colonial thought and action. This book is essential for any scholar or student of global cultural life of the twentieth century." Kevin M.F. Platt, University of Pennsylvania ---

"From Internationalism to Postcolonialism provides a highly valuable reference for readers and scholars interested in the breadth and depth of cultural outreach conducted by the former Soviet Union." Los Angeles Review of Books

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"Djagalov's contribution is immense: at once a work of diplomatic history that situates postcolonial literature within the unexpected framework of socialist internationalism, From Internationalism to Postcolonialism is also a rehabilitation of Third World writers whose work largely had been forgotten as unexceptional "national allegory." Djagalov's command of postcolonial studies and Cold War diplomatic history is impressive, and I hope the book finds its audience within both of these divergent fields." H-Net

--- "The book's underlying idea is that the Soviet Union was engaged in a postcolonial venture before the term became fashionable, focusing on the Afro-Asian Writers Association (1958–91) and the biennial Tashkent Film Festival for African, Asian, and Latin American film (1968–88), where filmmakers gathered to learn and exchange revolutionary ideas. Recommended." Choice --- "In this innovative and meticulously researched book, Rossen Djagalov sets out to map the vast field of cultural engagements between the Soviet Union and the decolonizing countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. More often it seems as if he is uncovering a new world, heretofore hidden in plain sight by disciplinary silos, language barriers, and ideological myopia." Ab Imperio --- “This impressive and timely book is infused with a sense of loss and, at the same time, an anticipation of hope. From Internationalism to Postcolonialism will be enlightening for any scholar of the Russian/Soviet/post-Soviet spaces attentive to the problems of incorporating comparative and transnational methods and perspectives into the study of concrete practices and experiences of Soviet power, both an example of how one might engage in such study, and as an example of a model that challenges previous models of “world” culture.” The Russian Review ---

“Blending provocative rhetoric with careful archival analysis, Rossen Djagalov’s passionately argued new monograph, From Internationalism to Postcolonialism, makes a compelling case for the need to narrate a new origin story for postcolonial studies … From Internationalism to Postcolonialism’s admirably detailed analysis provides its interdisciplinary audience with a series of counter-intuitive, but convincing, revelations.” University of Toronto Quarterly