socialist realism

American  

Or Socialist Realism

noun

1. a state-approved artistic or literary style in some socialist countries, as the U.S.S.R., that characteristically celebrates an idealized vision of the life and industriousness of the workers.

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socialist realism British  

noun

1. (in Communist countries, esp formerly) the doctrine that art, literature, etc should present an idealized portrayal of reality, which glorifies the achievements of the Communist Party

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Etymology

Origin of socialist realism

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Pervaded by magic and mysticism, Bulgakov’s masterpiece was a far cry from the weary “socialist realism” mandated by an officially atheistic state.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Rubinstein was considered one of the founders of the Russian conceptualism movement, an avant-garde fusion of art and prose that thumbed its nose at the restrictions of the Socialist Realism that predominated in the 1970s and ’80s.

From New York Times

In the 1970s and 1980s, it used art in its many forms to subvert traditional Soviet era norms and critique the official doctrine of socialist realism - an ideology prominent during the Soviet Union that pushed the political agenda using art.

From BBC

Zeng’s art is informed by socialist realism, a style he encountered growing up in Maoist China.

From Seattle Times

Their partnership, which used art to challenge — even ridicule — the fundamental tenets of Socialist Realism, began in the Soviet Union in 1972 and continued after they immigrated to the United States in 1978, but ended in 2003 when they embarked on separate careers.

From New York Times