The Trauma of Stalinism

Although Stalinism as a political system ceased to exist with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, its legacy did not evaporate. On the contrary, it left a deep mark on the national identity of the people living in the vast expanses of the Russian Federation that has emerged from the shadow of the broken Soviet empire. To better comprehend the phenomenon of Stalinism, this interdisciplinary work utilizes tools from the humanities and social sciences. The narratives of Kolymskie rasskazy (Kolyma Tales) by Varlam T. Shalamov (1907-1982) serve as a means to uncover the nature of the wounds that the Russian national psyche suffered during the heyday of Stalinism. Holy Scripture, on the other hand, provides the theological inquiry into the causes and implications of those sufferings. The author then develops a healing ministry based on the Nazareth Manifesto of Jesus (Luke 4:16-21). The book provides insight into the various dynamics that govern the universe of a confined culture and as such should be especially useful to missiologists, social historians, psychologists, and political scientists working in the field of Russian studies.