Socialist realism

Socialist realism, also known as socrealism (from Russian соцреализм, sotsrealizm), is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official cultural doctrine in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. The doctrine was first proclaimed by the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934 as approved as the only acceptable method for Soviet cultural production in all media.

The primary official objective of socialist realism was "to depict reality in its revolutionary development" although no formal guidelines concerning style or subject matter were provided. Works of socialist realism were usually characterized by unambiguous narratives or iconography relating to the Marxist–Leninist ideology, such as the emancipation of the proletariat. In visual arts, socialist realism often relied on the conventions of academic art and classical sculpture. Socialist realism was usually devoid of complex artistic meaning or interpretation yet counter sources may provide different interpretations.

In the aftermath of World War II, socialist realism was adopted as official policy by the communist states that were politically aligned with the Soviet Union. Socialist realism was the predominant form of approved art in the Soviet Union from its development in the early 1920s to its eventual fall from official status beginning in the late 1960s until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. While other countries have employed a prescribed canon of art, socialist realism in the Soviet Union persisted longer and was more restrictive than elsewhere in Europe. The doctrine of socialist realism should not be confused with social realism, a type of art that realistically depicts subjects of social concern and was popularized in the United States during the 1930s, or any other forms of artistic "realism".