Superpowers of White Hegemony: America and the USSR’s Similar SF Depictions during the Cold War

This week’s reading by Adilifu Nama, Black Space Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film, examines how sci-fi allows for familiar social problems to be imagined in an unfamiliar (or even alien) setting. This allows deeply rooted issues (like those surrounding race) to be examined in a different light. Nama rationalizes this by saying “Because SF cinema reflects the values of a society and often presents cautionary tales and social parables, many of its narratives are fertile sites of ideological meaning as they relate to popular discourses surrounding race.” (8). In this way, SF is an art form that engages with escapism but also mirrors the cultural values of the period in which it was written. 

I found this particularly interesting in reference to the space race. Nama highlights that “Science fiction cinema of the 1950s became the primary vehicle for American film audiences to attempt to confront feelings of dread and despair associated with the threat of cold war annihilation.” (14). Nama explores how sci-fi films of this period strategically omitted black people. Nama emphasizes that it is important to study not just the content of these sci-fi films, but also the content that is actively excluded from them. Although the Cold War may take center stage in historical textbooks, it was also coupled with rising tensions surrounding race relations in the United States. Nama examines the film When Worlds Collide (1951) which, by excluding Black people, demonstrates “whites only” racial segregation and white racial homogeneity. 

I’m currently working as a research assistant for a project called “Dreams in Orbit: Soviet and American girls’ letters to space” which examines the youth culture surrounding space travel in the 1960s in both superpowers. I have been doing a lot of digging through Soviet resources, and this reading got me thinking about what the USSR was excluding in this science-fiction propaganda. Based on my current findings, the Soviet Union displays a similar disregard for Central Asian and Caucasian states, emphasizing a white, hegemonic, and ultimately Russian-speaking society. Obviously, American and Russian society (as well as their race relations) varied and continue to vary greatly, however it’s striking how both superpowers used similar forms of SF propaganda. 

One of the best examples of this would be the popular tv-show Гостья из будущего (Guests from the future) which depicts a white-washed future.

Film still from Guests from the Future