Men Out of Focus: The Soviet Masculinity Crisis in the Long Sixties

"Men Out of Focus presents a diverse range of films and other cultural materials to provide a snapshot of Soviet cultural history with global implications. Written in a lively style, it is accessible to the general reader, just as the inclusion of numerous translated political cartoons prove quite enjoyable. The specialist, too, will appreciate Dumančić’s heterogeneous selection of films."

Jess Jensen Mitchell, H-Soz-Kult

"A fascinating piece of work, meticulously researched and detailed, yet thoroughly accessible. While Dumančić’s main source is Soviet cinema, it would be doing this book a great disservice to see it only as a book about men on film. The wide variety of sources taken from different cultural genres and political discourses, the consideration of multiple facets of contemporary Soviet life, and the effort, especially in the final chapter, to situate the Soviet case among developments elsewhere in Europe, means that this is a seminal book which offers a richly textured analysis of Soviet society that goes far beyond the silver screen."

Claire McCallum, University of Exeter, The Russian Review

“Dumančić combines close textual analysis with corroborating material, including cartoons in the satirical journal, Krokodil, and debates within the Union of Cinematographers. The result is a nuanced and perceptive monograph which offers readers an insight into the gender norms that allowed sexual inequality to thrive."

Simon Huxtable, Contemporary European History

“Marko Dumančić’s first book has been much anticipated in Soviet gender history, and it does not disappoint. Showing an admirable facility with film studies, gender analysis, cultural methodology, and the dynamic terrain of Soviet history in the two decades after the 1953 death of Joseph Stalin, Dumančić offers a deeply researched and persuasively argued portrait of the Soviet gender order from about 1953 to 1968.” Erica L. Fraser, Carleton University, Journal of Family History

“Dumančić is fluent in the social history of the ‘long sixties’ and is to be praised for his focus on popular films, which are quite illuminating in presenting a view of Soviet masculinity different from either Stalinist heroes or the tortured heroes in art films.” Denise J. Youngblood, University of Vermont, Women East-West

“Marko Dumančić’s monograph arrives at a most timely moment … The author is to be congratulated also for the sheer range of his sources, from literary texts to the cultural media, from discussions of films to their reception by the Party ideologues and the public, and from academic studies to archival and documentary materials.” David Gillespie, Slavic Review

“Men Out of Focus is beautifully written and argued. It includes persuasive readings of Soviet films from the forties, fifties, and sixties and employs those readings to create a fresh picture of postwar Soviet society. Carefully situated in the scholarly literature on Soviet film and on the historiography of the postwar Soviet Union, it is a must read for scholars interested in Soviet film and society as well as those interested in gender and in European cinema.” Peter C. Pozefsky, College of Wooster, The Journal of Modern History

“Men Out of Focus is a rich interdisciplinary study that will be of value to anyone interested in the postwar period in the Soviet Union and its cultural production. Marko Dumančić’s book is a great example of how in-depth studies of cinema, literature, and popular culture can be mined for “history” and vice versa.” Lilya Kaganovsky, University of California, Los Angeles, American Historical Review

"Exceptionally well written in graceful prose that is tinged with irony and humour, Men Out of Focus has the potential to make a major contribution to available scholarship. This book contributes to the study of Soviet masculinity, which has been neglected, and, as Dumančić indicates, is crucial for understanding our current moment."

Deborah Field, Department of History, Adrian College

"Utilizing a wide array of archival and printed primary sources, Men Out of Focus is a tour de force that will make a significant contribution to scholarship on the Soviet 1960s, Soviet filmmaking, and gender and masculinities in Russia and the Soviet Union as well as comparative and transnational studies."

Amy Randall, Department of History, Santa Clara University