ABSTRACT
Given the turbulence that had marked Khrushchev’s years in power, and the implicit promise to restore order that was issued by his successors, it may perhaps seem somewhat surprising to argue that in the ideological and cultural spheres, the Brezhnev regime did not bring about any profound break with the preceding period. Gradually, however, certain differences in form did become visible. As the cultural ‘polyphony’ that had begun to flourish under Khrushchev was removed from the public scene, the rigid official ideology and culture of the 1949-53 period emerged largely intact. The heritage from the Khrushchev thaws had increasingly to be treated in the semi-secretive fashion of the Soviet underground ‘second culture’ which featured samizdat and ‘dissidents’.
