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Re: Soviet provincialism?
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Adding to Victor Fet¹s comment on the Soviet¹s brutal attack on artistic
freedom and creativity, I see a new book on the subject reviewed by Wendell
Steavenson in the latest Sunday Times: ENGINEERS OF THE SOUL, In the
Footsteps of Stalin¹s Writers, by Frank Westerman (Harvill Secker, £14.99 pp
306.)
Westerman reminds us of the romantic novel under Soviet Socialist Realism:
Boy meets Girl, Girl meets Tractor.
He tells of Akhmatova reduced to writing poems in praise of Stalin to try
and get her son released from the camps.
And who dare blame her for that? ³Stalin corralled the liriki to match the
efforts of the fisiki, to serve the breakneck industriaiization of the
1930s.² ³If workers can pour concrete in brigades, why can¹t brigades of
writers produce a collective book?² (M Gorky)
The reviewer warns us not to expect a comprehensive study on Soviet
Literature (a well-ploughed field). Rather, Westerman seeks new ground,
covering lesser-known writers, especially the hangers-on¹ who suffered but
survived.
Carolyn asks: Has anyone ever speculated, by the way, as to what kind of
soviet writer Nabokov would have made?
The quick answer is a MURDERED Soviet writer, like Mandelstam and Babel.
The gruesome tale of Stalin coaxing Maxim Gorky back to the CCCP offers
scant food for further speculation. Gorky succumbed and was richly rewarded
for becoming ³Godfather of the subversion of literature to the efficacies of
the Five-Year Plan!²
But, a huge BUT, to even THINK of that happening to the exiled Vladimir
Nabokov is UNTHINKABLE! Still, just imagine: Stalin naming a whole city for
Nabokov, an honour Uncle Joe bestowed on the obsequious Gorky in 1932 (it
reverted to Nizhny Novgorod in 1991).
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 15/05/2010 16:30, "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:
> On May 14, 2010, at 9:16 AM, Alexey Sklyarenko wrote: Dear Carolyn, Belyi
> isn't a Soviet writer. Neither is Chekhov. He came from medvezhiy ugol (a
> god-forsaken place) of Russia (Taganrog), but is too great an artist to be
> dismissed as provincial.
>
>
> Dear Alexey,
>
> Some of Chekhov is provincial, but not in the derogatory sense - - yes,
> agreed. But in what way is Bely not a soviet writer? Has anyone ever
> speculated, by the way, as to what kind of soviet writer Nabokov would have
> made?
>
> Carolyn
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freedom and creativity, I see a new book on the subject reviewed by Wendell
Steavenson in the latest Sunday Times: ENGINEERS OF THE SOUL, In the
Footsteps of Stalin¹s Writers, by Frank Westerman (Harvill Secker, £14.99 pp
306.)
Westerman reminds us of the romantic novel under Soviet Socialist Realism:
Boy meets Girl, Girl meets Tractor.
He tells of Akhmatova reduced to writing poems in praise of Stalin to try
and get her son released from the camps.
And who dare blame her for that? ³Stalin corralled the liriki to match the
efforts of the fisiki, to serve the breakneck industriaiization of the
1930s.² ³If workers can pour concrete in brigades, why can¹t brigades of
writers produce a collective book?² (M Gorky)
The reviewer warns us not to expect a comprehensive study on Soviet
Literature (a well-ploughed field). Rather, Westerman seeks new ground,
covering lesser-known writers, especially the hangers-on¹ who suffered but
survived.
Carolyn asks: Has anyone ever speculated, by the way, as to what kind of
soviet writer Nabokov would have made?
The quick answer is a MURDERED Soviet writer, like Mandelstam and Babel.
The gruesome tale of Stalin coaxing Maxim Gorky back to the CCCP offers
scant food for further speculation. Gorky succumbed and was richly rewarded
for becoming ³Godfather of the subversion of literature to the efficacies of
the Five-Year Plan!²
But, a huge BUT, to even THINK of that happening to the exiled Vladimir
Nabokov is UNTHINKABLE! Still, just imagine: Stalin naming a whole city for
Nabokov, an honour Uncle Joe bestowed on the obsequious Gorky in 1932 (it
reverted to Nizhny Novgorod in 1991).
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 15/05/2010 16:30, "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:
> On May 14, 2010, at 9:16 AM, Alexey Sklyarenko wrote: Dear Carolyn, Belyi
> isn't a Soviet writer. Neither is Chekhov. He came from medvezhiy ugol (a
> god-forsaken place) of Russia (Taganrog), but is too great an artist to be
> dismissed as provincial.
>
>
> Dear Alexey,
>
> Some of Chekhov is provincial, but not in the derogatory sense - - yes,
> agreed. But in what way is Bely not a soviet writer? Has anyone ever
> speculated, by the way, as to what kind of soviet writer Nabokov would have
> made?
>
> Carolyn
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/