Introductions to dissertations on antiquity in the 1940s and Soviet dissertation culture

The aim of this study is to identify the specific features of dissertation culture among antiquity scholars in the 1940s, based on an analysis of the introductions to dissertations defended at Leningrad State University. The novelty lies in analyzing these qualification papers aimed at receiving an academic degree as a distinct type of historiographical source, based on the research objectives set by the candidates themselves. The relevance is underscored by the growing number of studies on the history of dissertation culture over the past decade; however, historians have yet to establish a satisfactory analytical framework for examining the dissertations themselves. The author finds that initially there was a certain degree of flexibility both in the structure of dissertations and the layout of their introductory sections. However, beginning in the late 1940s, alongside intensified ideological campaigns, the formal requirements for scientific papers submitted for disputation became significantly more stringent. As a result, fractures began to appear in the cohesive narrative structure of dissertations. The introduction became effectively separated from the main body of the text due to the issues it addressed. The language itself became infused with hostile terminology toward “bourgeois” science and incorporated quotations from Marxist literature. The articulation of the topic, the problem statement, and the historiographical review all took on an ideological dimension. These components also served as criteria for assessing the overall quality of the work produced.