Journeys Beyond Three Seas: Cold War Indo-Soviet Tourism
Journeys Beyond Three Seas: Cold War Indo-Soviet Tourism

Summary/Abstract: This article draws on archival research in Russia (14 months), India (3 months), and the United States, plus research on material published for Indian and Soviet readers. It explores tourism between India and the USSR, which grew out of the Cold War partnership of the two countries. Jeremiah argues that tourists crossing international boundaries (as in cultural exchange writ large) helped create a forum for Soviet self-presentations which externalized the Bolshevik culture-building project and the principle of “friendship of the peoples.” While he notes that Soviet presentations for Indian visitors were not always well-received, they had further meaning: coaching for Indo-Soviet encounters influenced public rhetoric, and the experiences of Soviet citizens abroad shaped the way they experienced leisure, cultural production, consumption, and ultimately Soviet identity – or the place citizens saw themselves occupying in the world. Jeremiah endeavors to offer something innovative in the way he tells a transnational story of cultural borrowing and foreign policy shaping domestic Soviet experiences.

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