Alexander Pushkin and His Literary Heritage in the Soviet Union in 1917–1937: from Criticism to Veneration
https://doi.org/10.53822/2712-9276-2023-3-74-97
Abstract
The article takes the process of changing attitudes to the creative heritage of Alexander Pushkin in the Soviet state as the subject of research. The goal of the research is to reveal the role played by the heritage of Alexander Pushkin in the policy of the so‑called “cultural revolution” and to what extent it contributed to the revolution’s success. Within the framework of this goal, the following tasks were set: to identify which political circumstances influenced the process under review, how strong was the overestimation of the significance of Pushkin’s creative heritage, what role it played against the background of ideological education. The task was also to consider specific events and, first of all, the 100th anniversary of the poet’s death as the moment of the final consolidation of Pushkin’s top position in the pantheon of Russian classics. The novelty of the research consists in considering changes in the attitude towards Pushkin and his creative heritage in conjunction with changes in theoretical objectives that determined the cultural development of the country. In the course of the research, the following conclusions were successfully reached. Despite the paramount importance of the theory of “two cultures” and the ideological attitudes of the Soviet government in its early years, in terms of which Pushkin as a representative of the exploiter class had to be criticized, there was no complete denial of his creative work even among the representatives of the Proletkult (the Proletarian Culture movement). At the time the cultural uniformity was established through the use of the only possible artistic method — socialist realism with highly valued ideologic content, simplicity and concreteness — models for inspiration were actively looked for. Eventually, the simplicity and national spirit of Pushkin’s characters managed to satisfy the demands in the best way possible. Despite the fact that the preparation and celebration of the Pushkin jubilee in 1937 were held according to the rules set by ideological campaigns, it had a tremendous positive effect and introduced Pushkin’s works to the broad masses of people. Pushkin’s creativity captivated millions of people. From there, we can say that the cultural development of the Soviet Union cannot be perceived one‑sidedly.
About the Author
A. V. KhoroshevaRussian Federation
Anna Vladimirovna Khorosheva — Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of History of Russia XX — XXI centuries, Faculty of History
1, Leninskie gory, Moscow, 119991
References
1. Abekhtikov, E. E. (2020). O protivorechiiakh v Proletkul’te [On Contradictions in Proletkult]. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 26(1), 43–46. [In Russian].
2. Bogdanov, A. A. (1920). Puti proletarskogo tvorchestva [Paths of Proletarian Creativity]. Proletarskaia kul’tura, 15–16, 50–52. [In Russian].
3. Chukovsky, K. I. (1994). Dnevnik, 1930–1969 [The Diary, 1930– 1969]. Moscow: Sovremennyi pisatel’. [In Russian].
4. Dekrety Sovetskoi vlasti [Decrees of the Soviet Government]. (1957). (Vol. 1). Moscow: Gospolitizdat. [In Russian].
5. Dinamov, S. S. (1932). Gete i sovremennyi kapitalizm [Goethe and Modern Capitalism]. Moscow, Leningrad: GIHL. [In Russian].
6. Lenin, V. I. (1961). Sentiabr’ 1913 — mart 1914 [September 1913 — March 1914]. In Complete works (Vol. 24). Moscow: Gospolitizdat. [In Russian].
7. Lenin, V. I. (1962). Mart — aprel’ 1917 [March — April 1917]. In Complete works (Vol. 31). Moscow: Gospolitizdat. [In Russian].
8. Lunacharsky, A. V. (1928). Kul’tura na Zapade i u nas [Culture on the West and Here]. Moscow, Leningrad: Gosizdat. [In Russian].
9. Lunacharsky, A. V. (1982). Literatura novogo mira [Literature of the New World]. Moscow: Sovetskaia Rossiia. [In Russian].
10. Meshcheriakov, N., Lunacharskii A. (1932). Lenin. In Literaturnaia entsiklopediia : v 11 t. [Literary Encyclopedia in 11 Volumes] (Vol. 6, pp. 176–262). Moscow: Sovetskaia entsiklopediia. [In Russian].
11. Nevskaia, D. R. (2013). Tri fazisa priznaniia i uvenchaniia. K istorii prazdnovaniia pervykh iubileev Gogolia [Three Phases of Recognition and Crowning. On the History of the Celebration of Gogol’s First Anniversaries]. Novyi filologicheskii vestnik, 1, 106–139. [In Russian]
12. Platt, D. B. (2017). Zdravstvui, Pushkin! Stalinskaia kul’turnaia politika i russkii natsional’nyi poet [Hello, Pushkin! Stalin’s Cultural Policy and the Russian National Poet]. Saint Petersburg: Izd-vo Evropeiskogo universiteta v Sankt-Peterburge. [In Russian].
13. Pushkinsky dom [Pushkin House]. (1925). Leningrad: Izd-vo Akademii Nauk SSSR. [In Russian].
14. Sidiakov, L. (2013). Tvorchestvo A. S. Pushkina [Creativity of A. S. Pushkin]. Riga. [In Russian].
15. Soldatova, L. M. (2007). Pushkinskii iubilei 1937 goda za granitsei. Literatura i politika [Pushkin Anniversary of 1937 Abroad. Literature and Politics]. Russkaia literatura, 3, 201–214. [In Russian].
16. Ternovets, B. N. (1977). Pis’ma, dnevniki, stat’i [Letters, Diaries, Articles]. Moscow: Sov. khudozhnik. [In Russian].
17. Vsesoiuznaia perepis’ naseleniia 1939 goda: Osnovnye itogi [All-Union Population Census of 1939: Main Results]. (1992). Moscow: Nauka. [In Russian].
Review
For citations:
Khorosheva A.V. Alexander Pushkin and His Literary Heritage in the Soviet Union in 1917–1937: from Criticism to Veneration. Orthodoxia. 2023;(3):74-97. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.53822/2712-9276-2023-3-74-97