Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
9-2017
Abstract
By the middle of the 1960s, the Soviet press routinely exalted computers as the “machines of communism,” and the new programming profession had become familiar enough to make a programmer the main hero of a science iction novel. he Strugatskys’ immensely popular Monday Begins on Saturday—the title referring to a kind of work that knows no holidays—is a satirical fable where scientiic research masqueraded as magic. The novel opens with a fantastical institute staf headhunting a young programmer, Aleksandr Privalov. At the heart of the plot is the inculcation of the protagonist with a scientists’ work ethic as Aleksandr befriends other male co-workers interested in using the computer to advance their research projects.
Discipline
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Philosophy of Science
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Kritika
Volume
18
Issue
4
First Page
709
Last Page
739
ISSN
1531-023X
Identifier
10.1353/kri.2017.0048
Publisher
Slavica Publishers
Citation
TATARCHENKO, Ksenia.
"The computer does not believe in tears": Soviet programming, professionalization, and the gendering of authority. (2017). Kritika. 18, (4), 709-739.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cis_research/132
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1353/kri.2017.0048
Comments
Presented at EUSP Workshops on Russian Computer Scientists in Russia and Abroad / Siegen-University Workshop on Beyond ENIAC - Early Digital Platforms and Practices / CiE Workshop on Women in Computability