In a way this blog is an experiment to work out what kind of book (if any) I wish to write about Lenin. This Lenin blog is not about discussing the merits and demerits of Leninism. I'll leave people to plough through those volumes that have been written about him and his theories on their own. Instead this is in a way my own Leniniana. I'm more interested about images and statues of Lenin (as well as anecdotes and jokes about him), more interested about films and music, verse and pictures of Lenin and less about his ideas per se. I'm interested, therefore, in the versatility of his image (literary, cinematic, artistic) rather than in any dogmatic appraisal of his ideas.That's not to say that I'll exclude writing, for example, some appraisal of Toni Negri's latest book on Lenin or avoid mention of the reception of his ideas in Zizek or Lacan. It's just that Lenin, to me, seems to be exceptionally suited to an exploration of his image (more so than other twentieth century figure) because of the fact that his reputation has gone through some Copernican revolutions of their own in the space of less than a century since his death.
I am hoping to find regular material for this blog- but the format will vary. Sometimes a simple quote, another time an image and then a rather detailed exploration of some aspect of Leninist iconography. In any case I hope that it will soon take on a life that even I haven't planned. A bit like Lenin himself.
