Soviet Literature - Perestroika [Reconstruction]

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Resources

Perestroika

was a major policy initiative introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev into the Soviet Union, soon after he assumed power in 1985. The word means “restructuring”, and was a term that had been use for bureaucratic (and personal) “reconstructions” back in the 1930s. Now, however, far from the intensification of Stalinism, “restructuring” was to be applied to a wide range of administrative, economic and political institutions and practices (along with the policy of

glasnost’

, meaning in effect “openness”, or “transparency” and accountability) and with a far greater efficiency uppermost in mind.

Perestroika

began to take hold from 1986 and produced radical and widespread reforms: in the political system, in the economy, the state services and culture - in particular…

161 words

Citation: Cornwell, Neil. "Soviet Literature - Perestroika [Reconstruction]". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1594, accessed 28 March 2024.]

1594 Soviet Literature - Perestroika [Reconstruction] 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.