VISUAL SPACE OF WAR: SOVIET AESTHETICS IN THE VIDEO GAME ATOMIC HEART : NOSTALGIA OR PROPAGANDA?

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyse how the use of Soviet aesthetics in a mass culture product such as a computer game can be used to shape propaganda narratives related to Russian imperial resentment. Particular attention will be paid to how the game interacts with historical memory, what narratives about the USSR it promotes, and how these narratives correlate with historical facts.
Research methodology. The research methodology is based on the works of domestic and foreign scholars who study propaganda. The works of Liliana Vezhbovskaya, Irina Malik, Natalia Belousova, and Zlata Tsioz primarily represent research conducted during the full-scale Russian invasion, in which the researchers attempt to trace the development of russian propaganda during the war and highlight its main features. Nitsche's work is aimed at highlighting the nature of Russian imperial resentment, which today plays an important role in the politics of the russian state. The research of Svitlana Boim, Oleksiy Yurchak, Victoria O'Donnell and Hart Jovet is devoted to the Western European vision of the nature of propaganda and its characteristics.
Results. The research allows us to conclude that the commercialisation of nostalgia is one of the typical means of propaganda. Moreover, the propaganda potential of Atomic Heart lies in the creation of an attractive aesthetic and narrative construct that, through the emotional involvement of the player – nostalgia for the imaginary and real past – can create positive associations with the Soviet/Russian project and lay the groundwork for a potential historical revision of the past and a new wave of Russian imperial resentment.
Novelty. This study synthesises nostalgia theory, post-memory concepts, and soft power analysis in a novel way to investigate video games as instruments of ideological influence in hybrid warfare. The study provides a timely critical analysis of cultural warfare during the Russian-Ukrainian war, revealing how commercialised Soviet aesthetics function as propaganda through aesthetic enticement rather than direct political messaging. This creates a new methodological framework for analysing the role of entertainment media in contemporary media wars and the development of imperial narratives.
The practical significance is determined by the growing influence of video games as a component of visual culture that shapes collective memory and perceptions of historical events, as well as from the point of view of researching how potential propaganda narratives can be disseminated through «soft power» means.