Socio-cultural analysis of censorship in the USSR and the tsarist period of Russia

The article examines the genesis of censorship, analyzes the distinctive characteristics of the work of censorship departments in Tsarist times and the USSR. It is proved that in the pre-revolutionary period, preliminary censorship prevailed, works were banned before they were published. This made it possible to control the published materials and prevent the spread of dissent. In the Soviet Union, punitive censorship was mainly in effect, involving punishments of authors, up to repression. Along with this, preliminary censorship continued to function, but it was latent in nature. Despite the omnipotence of control over works and authors in Soviet times, censorship still could not completely stop the development of cultural discourse, which entailed hidden resistance and underground creativity (samizdats). The article provides examples of various methods of punitive censorship in the USSR, examines such a phenomenon as denunciations, which were extremely popular among Soviet citizens. The novelty of the article lies in the analysis of the mechanism of mass media control in pre-revolutionary and Soviet times using a cultural and historical approach. The empirical basis was scientific works on this topic, censors' diaries, and articles in the media themselves.