«We are you». The comparison of images of the future in the book «A Hundred Years Ago» and the movie ‘The Guest from the Future’ within historical context

Abstract

The following article considers the revival of the category of future within the context of the soaring of science fiction between the 1950’s and 1970’s. This period of the USSR’s history is characterized by dramatic alterations in the political commitment, production achievements, the particular liberalization of the regime and the increase of the Soviet citizens’ standard of living, facing the stagnation which turns the futuristic concept into relevant and urgent topic for artistic reflection and conceptualization. «A Hundred Years Ago Ahead» (Sto let tomu vpered’, 1976) by Kir Bulychev is chosen as the basic material for the research below. The Soviet author presents the image of the future which appears to be the most typical for the public thought of the 1970’s. However, in a few years already this image begins to transform influenced by particular sociopolitical drivers. This article suggests to follow the relations between the images of the future in the book and in its screen adaptation ‘The Guest from the Future’ (‘Gost'ja iz budushhego’, 1985), to reveal the historical background of these works’ creation which are the culmination of the Era of Stagnation and the forming of the premises for social and economic changes implemented later in Perestroika’s politics.

Key words: Kir Bulychev, ‘A Hundred Years Ago Ahead’, ‘The Guest from the Future’, Soviet children’s literature of the 1970’s, Soviet children’s science fiction, image of the future in the Soviet children’s literature, Soviet cinematography for the children, Alice Selezneva.