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Soviet Union [USSR] Literature
Since the 1930s, the regime has regulated literary expression
through socialist realism. In spite of the brief literary thaw
during the late 1950s, throughout the Brezhnev period writers
endured a reemphasis of Stalinist constraints over their works.
Traditional ways of thinking and of viewing history no longer
applied to many parts of literature, however, once Gorbachev
assumed power.
The ferment inspired a creativity not witnessed since
Khrushchev's literary thaw. Books began to treat conflicts faced by
real human beings and to portray critical and poignant topics
theretofore banned. Poets such as Evgenii Evtushenko and Andrei
Voznesenskii, who had receded into the background from the mid1960s to the mid-1980s, were again able to espouse their desire for
a more humane society, uncovering the truth about the past and
seeking greater freedom for the arts. Previously banned themes
began to appear for the first time since the 1920s. Conservative
elements persisted in some literary circles, however, and in the
late 1980s some bans on literary themes remained in effect.
A limited degree of freer expression on topics dealing with
societal changes was permitted between Brezhnev's death and
Gorbachev's rise to power. For example, in 1983 Andropov allowed
the publication in book form of Chingiz Aitmatov's, The Day
Lasts More Than a Hundred Years. In this novel, Aitmatov, a
native of the Kirgiz Republic, confronts such historical themes as
the brutal Stalinist period, social and moral turpitude, and
nationality tensions in the Soviet Union. In the novel, he treats
tensions between Russians and non-Russians from a Central Asian
perspective. This book, however, stands alone.
Chernenko reintroduced strict bans on critical and innovative
works. One example concerns Sergei Zalygin's (editor in chief of
Novyi mir) novel After the Storm, which appeared
shortly after Chernenko's death. During Chernenko's rule, the
second half of the novel had been withheld from publication without
explanation.
Under Gorbachev, literary treatment of such topics as alcohol
and drug addiction, juvenile delinquency, religious subjects
(including references to God), historical reassessments of previous
leaders, and even harsh criticisms of past leaders have been
approved, provided they contained the prescribed amount of support
for the regime. Yet in the late 1980s, editors continued to uphold
the party creed to prevent works containing unsanctioned views from
reaching the public. In 1988 books almost never contained material
on or made reference to "anti-Soviet émigrés" or defectors,
anticommunist foreign literature, pornographic topics, or
"underground" works--referred to as
samizdat (see Glossary) if
self-published in the country or tamizdat if published
abroad.
Gorbachev's policy of openness also contributed to more lively
discussions among members of the Union of Writers. Controversy
erupted at the Eighth Congress of the Union of Writers during the
summer of 1986, where the majority of speeches centered on hotly
disputed topics. Speeches by Voznesenskii and Evtushenko criticized
the neglect shown by the regime toward some of the Soviet Union's
most talented writers, and they advocated support for publication
of their works. Thus, by 1988 the journal Novyi mir had
published Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago in four
installments. In addition, at Voznesenskii's behest, the Union of
Writers approved the selection of such nondelegates as the famous
poet Bella Akhmadulina, the writer and balladeer Bulat Okudzhava,
and the firebrand writer Iurii Chernichenko to membership on the
union's administrative board. Finally, the writers' congress
witnessed the changing of the guard as Vladimir Karpov, a survivor
of Stalinist labor camps, replaced the conservative Georgii Markov
as first secretary of the Union of Writers.
At the congress, ethnic confrontations also arose between
Russian and non-Russian authors; opposition was voiced against
bureaucratic publishing roadblocks; and vehement demands were made
favoring a reevaluation of Soviet history. Conservative views,
however, also appeared. Sergei Mikhalkov, the first secretary of
the Russian Republic's writers' union and a declared opponent of
Gorbachev's openness policy, cautioned against "parasites" who lack
a direct relation to literature and others who espouse overly
liberal views. In addition, Nikolai Gribachev, a conservative
writer, advocated a return to "classic Soviet writers," especially
Maksim Gor'kiy, associated with "proletarian populism," and Aleksei
N. Tolstoi, a supporter of "Russian nationalism." The conservatives
highlighted the importance of nationalism and the legacy of
socialist realism's emphasis on the "positive hero." Nationalistic
defenses prompted another conservative writer, Aleksandr Prokhanov,
to criticize the emergence of the "new social type" of individual
in literature, an ideologically apathetic citizen overly
sympathetic to the West.
Nevertheless, at the Eighth Congress of the Union of Writers,
the liberals gained ground and secured a number of dramatic
changes. After much lobbying by prominent writers and poets,
including Evtushenko and Voznesenskii, the liberal and conservative
elements of the writers' union reached agreement in mid-1988 to
turn Peredelkino, Pasternak's former home, into an official museum.
The Eighth Congress also served as a harbinger for loosening the
censorship restrictions on the publication of several politically
charged novels. Among these works were Anatolii Rybakov's
penetrating Children of the Arbat, which offered insights
into the origins of Stalinism, and Vasilii Grossman's Life and
Fate, which drew historical comparison between Stalinism and
Nazism. The late 1980s ushered in the way for poet Tat'iana
Tolstaia, the granddaughter of the Soviet writer Aleksei Tolstoi
(1882-1945), to publish. Known for her dramatic realism about death
in ordinary people's lives, Tolstaia saw her publications appear in
Oktiabr' and Novyi mir and won great acclaim, even
though the Union of Writers continued to exclude her.
Data as of May 1989
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