Ludmila Ulitskaya - The Big Green Tent

The Big Green Tent (Russian: Зелёный шатёр) is a novel by Russian novelist and short story writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya. It was published in Russian in 2010 and was translated into English by Polly Gannon in 2015.

The Big Green Tent takes place in the Soviet Union, Russia's political state for 11 years after the death of Joseph Stalin. During this time, the government became involved in every aspect of the Russian citizens’ daily lives through propaganda and censorship which is reflected in the novel. Although not explicitly referred to in the book, the Soviet officials kickstarted a campaign to convince children that they were in fact living happy lives during the political turmoil. They were not only the target for this effort, but also the representation on posters. It was not meant to be viewed as adults telling children how to live, rather it was children telling their peers how good life in Russia was. The point of this was to create a sense of unity with one another in order to keep the Soviet ideals in line and not have those who diverged and spoke against the strict guidelines. Despite the effort demonstrated by the government, their work was not as fruitful as they had hoped.