History 342

Devine

Slavenka Drakulic, How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed

 

  1. What did people expect to change “after Communism?”  What kinds of changes did they consider most important?

 

  1. What role did Western culture play in the “new” Eastern Europe?  Which aspects of Western culture seem to have had the most influence? Why do you think this was so?

 

  1. Drakulic considers the relationship between political authority and the trivia of daily living to be an important one.  Why does it matter that “the trivial is political?”

 

  1. What impact did Communism have on individuals’ lives in Eastern Europe?  How did this impact compare or contrast to what we have read about China and Vietnam?

 

  1. Why was having pizza in Warsaw a big deal?  Why do you think Drakulic writes about this experience?

 

  1. Why, according to Drakulic, is “politics” never abstract in a totalitarian society?  How does the politicization of everyday life sow the seeds of destruction in such societies?

 

  1. When Drakulic says Communism didn’t fail on bread or milk, it failed on strawberries, what larger point do you think she is trying to make?  Is it a persuasive point?

 

  1. Why did women in Eastern Europe pay such close attention to Vogue?  Why was “being a woman” a “constant battle against the system?”

 

  1. Why does the “erasure of memory” bother Drakulic?  What significance does she believe memory and history should have?

 

  1. Why was public space (common areas as opposed to individual living quarters) always a mess?

 

  1. Were social differentiations made in Communist societies even though everyone was supposed to be equal? How were these differentiations made?

 

  1. What impact do fear of the future and feelings of insecurity have on people in Eastern Europe? 

 

  1. What significance is there in “Golub?”

 

  1. What is “autocensorship?” Why is it a weapon of the state?

 

  1. In her chapter discussing the significance of apartments, Drakulic concludes, “What is public is of the enemy.”  What does she mean by this?

 

  1. What is the significance of the yellow line on the floor at the post office?

 

  1. How does the reality of the Communist system impact relations between men and women?

 

  1. What is “the Communist eye?”  If we looked at our own society through “the Communist eye” how would our perceptions change?

 

  1. What does Drakulic think of Western feminists and leftists?

 

  1. Why is Drakulic ambivalent about whether women should buy fur coats?

 

  1. Why do you think Drakulic decided her first Christmas mass was going to be her last one?

 

  1. Why do the cities of Communist Europe look so shabby?  Who or what is responsible for this?

 

  1. How do the fear of war and the rise of nationalism distort people’s everyday lives in Yugoslavia?

 

  1. What does the habit of “collecting” reveal about the Communist system and why it failed?

 

  1. The worst thing Communism did to people was  ____________________. How would you fill in this blank?