{"product_id":"9781861892676","title":"Sport in the USSR: Physical Culture--Visual Culture","description":"\u003cbr\u003eSports played a vital role in the social and cultural life of the former Soviet Union.\u003cbr\u003eThe Soviet state sponsored countless programs to promote sporting activities, even constructing a new term, \u003ci\u003efizkultura\u003c\/i\u003e, to describe sports culture. \u003cp\u003eWith \u003ci\u003eSport in the USSR\u003c\/i\u003e, Mike O’Mahony asserts that the popular image of \u003ci\u003efizkultura\u003c\/i\u003e was as dependent on its presentation as it was on its actual practice. Images of vigorous Soviet sportsmen and women were constantly evoked in literature, film, and folk songs; they frequently appeared on the badges and medals of various work associations and even on plates and teapots. Several major artists, in fact, made their careers out of vivid representations of sports. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eO’Mahony further examines the role that \u003ci\u003efizkultura\u003c\/i\u003e played in the formulation of the \u003ci\u003enovyi chelovek\u003c\/i\u003e, or Soviet New Person, arguing that these images of the sporting life not only promoted the existence of this national being but also articulated the process of transformation that could bring him or her into existence. \u003ci\u003eFizkultura\u003c\/i\u003e, O’Mahony claims,\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ebecame a civic duty alongside state labor drives and military service. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSport in the USSR\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating addition to current debates in the fields of sociology, popular culture, and Russian history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reaktion Books, Limited","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47032806375664,"sku":"9781861892676","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781861892676_p0.jpg?v=1763601075","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781861892676","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}