And others . In addition to the writers, the People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR Andrei Bubnov, Chairman of OSOAVIAKHIM Robert Eideman, and First Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Jan Gamarnik attended the congress.
The congress delegates adopted the charter of the USSR Writers' Union; main method Soviet literature socialist realism was recognized.
For several years after the end of the congress, 220 of its participants were subjected to repression.
Conversations about the need to create a writers' organization began long before the event itself. According to journalist Alexander Belyaev, this idea was first voiced back in the 1920s, when Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopian novel “We” was published, which dealt with the control of literature with the help of the Institute of State Poets and Writers.
In April 1932, a decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations” was published, designed to unite disparate writing groups into a monolithic structure. At the same time, the organizing committee of the Writers' Union was created (chaired by Maxim Gorky), whose task was to prepare the writers' congress. Due to organizational problems, the date of the congress was postponed several times; The names of speakers and topics for speeches changed.
In May 1934, the main work related to the preparation of the event was entrusted to Andrei Zhdanov. At the same time, the secret political department of the GUGB NKVD of the USSR began collecting information about the mood in the literary community and preparing characteristics of future delegates.
According to the participants, the atmosphere resembled a great holiday: orchestras played, crowds of Muscovites greeted the delegates at the entrance to the Hall of Columns, portraits of Shakespeare, Moliere, Tolstoy, Cervantes, and Heine were hung on the walls of the House of Unions. Enterprises of the capital - Trekhgorka, metro builders, railway workers - sent their representatives to the congress with parting words and wishes. Collective farmers recommended to Mikhail Sholokhov that in the continuation of “Virgin Soil Upturned” Lukerya should become a “shock worker of communist production.” The pioneers entered the hall with instructions: “There are many books marked “good,” / But the reader demands excellent books.”
As congress participant Elena Khorinskaya recalled, delegates had the opportunity at any time to order a car for travel for personal needs and receive free tickets to any performances or concerts. The writers' meals were organized in a restaurant located not far from the Hall of Columns.
The main report was read by Gorky, who said that collective writing will help authors get to know each other better, “be re-educated into people worthy great era". Part of his speech was dedicated to Dostoevsky, whom Gorky called "an insatiable avenger for his personal misfortunes and suffering."
His co-rapporteur Samuil Marshak told the delegates about the instructions from children and reminded that a variety of books should be written for young readers: scientific, documentary, fiction.
Isaac Babel also received prolonged applause. His speech was devoted to vulgarity, which in new era“no longer a bad character trait, but a crime.” Poet Nikolai Tikhonov dedicated his speech to Leningrad poets, who were “most influenced” by Sergei Yesenin.
Yuri Olesha, recognizing that the writer gets used to the images of his heroes, including negative ones, noted that “all the vices and all the virtues live in the artist.” His speech seemed sincere; during the days of the congress, he believed that “all doubts, all suffering had passed.” A few days after his speech, he told Ehrenburg in a private conversation that he would no longer be able to write - “it was an illusion, a dream at a holiday.”
Nikolai Bukharin's 24-page report caused a great stir; his speech, in which the poems of Balmont and Gumilyov were quoted, and Pasternak was named first from Soviet poets, became the reason for controversy, in which Alexander Bezymensky and Demyan Bedny participated.
Gorky, who, as some delegates noted, was very ill during the congress, in his closing remarks raised the question of creating a “Classics Theatre” in Moscow. In addition, he drew attention to the need to support poets and prose writers of Eastern and Western Siberia and expressed the idea of releasing periodic almanacs with works of national literature.
The pathetic atmosphere of the event was disrupted by conversations on the sidelines. NKVD officers recorded remarks from Babel that “the congress is passing as dead as a tsar’s parade,” and from the poet Mikhail Semenko, who said that the smooth atmosphere made him want to throw “a piece of food” at the presidium. dead fish". Korney Chukovsky subsequently recalled the melancholy “this congress” caused in him.
The phrase “socialist realism”, which first appeared on the pages of “ Literary newspaper“two years before the start of the congress, was one of the most common at the event: it was mentioned in almost all reports, including polemical ones. Thus, Alexander Fadeev expressed concern that the widespread use of the new method will lead to the creation of “leaf literature.” Nikolai Bukharin called for preserving the creative freedom of poets within the framework of socialist realism and abandoning “mandatory directives in this area.”
The discussion was summed up by Gorky, who in his speech called the goal of socialist realism the development of human creative abilities “for the sake of victory over the forces of nature.” In the charter of the Union of Writers of the USSR adopted at the congress, socialist realism was recognized as the main method of Soviet literature and Soviet criticism, “requiring from the artist a truthful, historically specific image of reality in its revolutionary development.”
The list of foreign writers invited to the congress was compiled in advance - it included writers in whom the Soviet regime was “interested.” The criteria by which foreign guests were selected were mainly formulated by the curator of the event, Andrei Zhdanov: these are people who sympathize with the USSR and socialist construction. These included Louis Aragon, Martin Andresen Nexo, Jean-Richard Bloch, Andre Malraux, Raphael Alberti.
The delegates to the congress welcomed not only these writers, but also those who were absent: Romain Rolland, Henri Barbusse, Bernard Shaw, Heinrich Mann. Presentations were made by Andersen-Nexø, who called on artists to “give shelter to everyone, even lepers,” and Andre Malraux, who argued that “photography of a great era is not yet great literature» .
“Intourist” was engaged in servicing foreign guests. The Politburo recommended that this structure, which was under the control of the NKVD, not only “turn Special attention on the quality of the guides’ work, providing sensible, comprehensive and politically consistent explanations when conducting excursions with foreign tourists,” but also “abolish the acceptance of tips throughout the system.”
Maxim Gorky (chairman), Alexander Afinogenov, Fyodor Gladkov, Leonid Leonov, Alexander Serafimovich, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Fadeev, Lydia Seifullina, Ilya Erenburg, Nikolai Tikhonov were elected to the presidium of the Union of Writers of the USSR. Regional cells of the joint venture with the necessary apparatus, board and chairmen began to be created locally. Writers had the opportunity to advance along the nomenklatura path and improve their financial situation: the official salaries of Literary Fund employees in 1935 ranged from 300 (secretary of the board) to 750 (director) rubles responded to Gorky’s words with the phrase:
Among the results of the congress was the exclusion of Dostoevsky from the history of Russian literature, which lasted for almost three decades: after the speeches of Gorky and Shklovsky, the author of “Demons” began to be called a traitor.
Financial results showed that 54,000 rubles were spent on operating the building in two weeks. Meals for one delegate cost the organizers 40 rubles (total amount - 300,000 rubles). A separate expense item was related to gifts for participants, photography, free subscriptions to newspapers and magazines - more than 34,000 rubles were spent on these needs. In a situation where average salary Soviet worker was 125 rubles, the total costs of holding the writers' congress exceeded 1.2 million rubles.
Soon after the event, the regions began to receive directives on preparations for the exit from social significant works. Through the section of playwrights, recommendations were sent to more than fifty writers “on the creation dramatic works worthy of the great date of the 20th anniversary of October." The secret political department of the GUGB NKVD of the USSR, tracking the mood of writers after returning home, stated that in the regions the reaction to the results of the congress was sluggish, and writers were more interested in their own everyday problems rather than public issues.
The foreign guests who participated in the congress did not go unnoticed: according to the press and publishing department of the Central Committee, in 1935 one hundred books by foreign authors were published in the Soviet Union; The leaders in circulation were Aragon, Barbusse, Malraux and other writers who were included in the “nomenklatura lists of “friends”” of the USSR.
Despite large-scale propaganda work, some decisions of the congress remained unfulfilled for a long time. Thus, the idea of creating the Union of Writers of the RSFSR was brought to life only in 1958.
Rental block
I Congress of Soviet Writers - Congress of Lessons
On August 17 - September 1, 1924, the First Congress of Soviet Writers took place in the Hall of Columns in Moscow - an event as significant as it was mysterious...
A line of national, internal support was being built in the country. Most of our leaders began to understand that in the upcoming battle with the world of fascism and capital we cannot count on the help of the world proletariat, we must rely on our people, our economy, history, and culture.
And at this time, the People's Commissariat for Education, where N.K. Krupskaya tried to rule, “expelled” Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and other “non-proletarian” writers from school libraries. But a patriotic group of the country's leaders gave the signal for the publication of classics Russian literature millions of copies, creating libraries for schoolchildren, peasants, Komsomol members, Red Army soldiers from the works of N. Gogol, L. Tolstoy, A. Pushkin, N. Nekrasov, M. Lermontov, I. Krylov.
Books of Pushkin's works filled the country in 1937.
Revived historical traditions, which forged the character of the Russian people as victor over foreign invaders.
Revolutionaries of all eras pushed aside, giving way to St. Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Peter the Great. The letter from the country's leaders - Stalin, Zhdanov, Kirov - said that we must respect the history of the country and its heroes: military men, scientists, cultural figures.
The First Congress of Soviet Writers became a field ideological battle many forces, and not only within the country. A considerable part of Russian writers, not accepting the actions of the Soviet government in the whirlpool historical events, left Russia. Russian literature in exile for many years preserved the spirit, style, and image of Russian classics. Among them are the great I. Bunin, I. Shmelev, I. Ilyin.
Someone returned to their homeland (A. Tolstoy, I. Kuprin, M. Gorky). On the territory of Soviet Russia, as it seemed to many, literature would never be revived. The leaders of those who declared themselves “proletarian” writers did not accept any continuity and proclaimed: “In the name of our Tomorrow, we will burn Raphael, We will destroy museums, we will trample the flowers of art...” Ruthless “proletarian” writers, true “frantic zealots” only for themselves conferred the right to be considered representatives of literature. All these Averbakhs, Lelevichs, Bezymenskys, Libedinskys, Utkins, Ermilovs crucified any attempts to think nationally, to peer deeply into life, to make it a subject artistic comprehension, search for truth. Everything in literature was subordinated to the idea of world revolution, the destruction “to the ground” of the old world and a throw into the future. They did not notice the outstanding stories of M. Sholokhov, through clenched teeth they spoke about the talent of L. Leonov, V. Shishkov, calling them “fellow travelers” with contempt.
The main road of literature ended up in the hands of RAPP, VOAPP, MAPP - the so-called proletarian organizations of writers. They seized almost all literary and socio-political publications, waving the baton of criticism, beating all the rebellious, non-standard, trying to create national literature.
Society was then heterogeneous; there were many people who represented the basis of the pre-revolutionary system. And although by 1936 the Constitution declared the equality of all people, in reality this was not the case.
The first warning to the “frantic zealots” was in 1932 the party resolution “On the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations,” according to which it was decided to liquidate the association of proletarian writers and unite all writers who support the platform of the Soviet government into a single Union of Soviet Writers. M. Gorky, who is considered the initiator of this decision, nevertheless spoke in support of RAPP, which, in his words, “united the most literate and cultural party writers.”
The congress was opened on August 17, 1934 by A.M. Gorky with his report. By this time he had finally returned to Soviet Union. Of course, one can be skeptical and critical of the First Congress of Writers, but it nevertheless unfolded a panorama of the active, growing, diverse literature of the country. Did he mention all the worthy names? No, of course. Rappism did not give up its positions, the Trotskyist-Bukharin opposition gave its “battle” at the congress.
One can attribute the “excesses” to Stalin, but we must not forget that, in addition to A. Gorky, the main reports were given by N. Bukharin (on poetry, poetics and the tasks of poetic creativity), K. Radek (on world literature and the tasks of proletarian art). But it was N. Bukharin who published the famous “Evil Notes” about Sergei Yesenin back in 1927. After this, Yesenin disappeared from publishing plans, school textbooks and anthologies for almost 30 years. Bukharin was also merciless towards Mayakovsky. K. Radek was just as cruel to Russian poets.
They wanted to form their own ranks of recognized poets and leaders close to them in spirit. M. Gorky was used to put pressure on Stalin and Zhdanov. But talking about literature, artistic creativity, folk origins, Russian history, talent and language still took place, despite the loud proletarian rhetoric of the Rappovites. M. Gorky said: “The beginning of the art of words is in folklore. Collect our folklore, learn from it, process it... The better we know the past, the easier, the more deeply and joyfully we will understand the great significance of the creativity of our present.”
The Writers' Union was to a large extent subordinate to the state and party leadership, but conditions for creativity and material support were given to writers.
Option 2.
The first congress of Soviet writers took place from August 17 to 30, 1934. This truly significant event was preceded by the Decree of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations,” from which it followed that numerous writers’ organizations were to unite into one, consisting of writers who fully “support the platform of Soviet power.” The authorities wanted to unite people who were completely different in their worldview, creative methods and aesthetic inclinations. Venue of the First All-Union Congress writers became the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. For such a solemn event, it was necessary to decorate the room; after a few debates, it was decided to hang portraits of literary classics in the hall. Which immediately became a reason for the irony of evil-tongued writers: There was plenty of room for everyone, some on the podium, some in the stalls, and some just on the wall! So, for example, everyone was taken aback, the fact appeared to us as in a dream - Alyosha Tolstoy was at the pulpit, Leva Tolstoy was on the wall. One of the delegates of the First Congress of the Union of Writers of the USSR, A. Karavaeva, recalled the opening day of the forum: “On a sunny August morning in 1934, approaching the House of Unions, I saw a large and lively crowd. Among the chatter and applause - just like in the theater - someone’s young voice was heard energetically calling: “Comrade delegates of the First Congress of Soviet Writers! As you enter this hall, don't forget to lift your historical credentials!… Soviet people wishes to see and know you all! Say, comrades, your last name and present your delegate card!” According to the mandate data, men predominated among the delegates of the First Congress of USSR Writers - 96.3%. Average age participants - 36 years old. The average literary experience is 13.2 years. By origin, the first place came from peasants - 42.6%, from workers - 27.3%, from the working intelligentsia - 12.9%. Of the nobles only 2.4%, clergy - 1.4%. Half of the delegates are members of the CPSU(b), 3.7% are candidates for membership of the CPSU(b) and 7.6% are Komsomol members. The number of prose writers among the congress participants was 32.9%, poets - 19.2%, playwrights - 4.7%, critics - 12.7. Children's writers - 1.3% and journalists - 1.8%. Curious and National composition congress. Russians - 201 people; Jews - 113; Georgians - 28; Ukrainians - 25; Armenians - 19; Tatars - 19; Belarusians - 17; Uzbeks -12. A further 43 nationalities were represented by between 10 and one delegates. There were even Chinese, Italians, Greeks and Persians.
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The First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in the history of Russian literature of the Soviet period
WITH 17 to 31 August 1934 the first writers' congress took place. The creative method of Soviet literature and art was declared “ socialist realism».
This term first appeared on May 25, 1932 on the pages of the Literary Gazette, and a few months later its principles were proposed as fundamental for everything Soviet art at Stalin’s mysterious meeting with Soviet writers at Gorky’s apartment (October 26, 1932). At this meeting the foundations for the future organization of writers were also laid.
Quote from the Central Committee’s speech on Zhdanov’s ideology at the congress: “Comrade Stalin called you engineers human souls . What responsibilities does this title impose on you? Firstly, know life, to be able to portray it not scholastically, not dead as objective reality, A depict life in its revolutionary development. Wherein truthfulness artistic image must be combined with the task of ideological transformation and education of the working people in the spirit of socialist realism." Thus, literature was given the role of an educational tool, but only.
These principles of socialist realism were out of discussion. All decisions of the congress were written in advance, and the delegates only voted for them. None of the 600 delegates voted against it. All speakers spoke about the great role of Stalin in all spheres of the country’s life, including literature (they called him “architect” and “helmsman”).
The entire previous culture was declared a prehistory to the “culture of a new higher stage,” socialist. The concept was introduced socialist humanism according to principle " love - hate": love for the people, the party and Stalin and hatred for the enemies of the motherland. From this understanding of humanism it followed partisanship principle And class approach principle in literature.
Thus, we can say that at the congress the artistic ideology of socialist realism was formulated, and not its artistic method.
The main function of literature has become propaganda function. The propaganda nature of literature was manifested in given plot, composition, often alternative (friends/enemies), in explicit the author's concern for the accessibility of his sermon. But the main feature was idealization of reality. Literature was supposed to lift people's spirits and create an atmosphere of anticipation for a “happy life.”
A new phenomenon was collective trips of writers, artists and musicians to construction sites and republics, which gave the character of a “campaign” to individual creativity.
At the same time, control over the activities of the Union members was strengthened. The role of censors and editors has increased. Many works of authors living in Russia (Bulgakov, Grossman), foreign writers (Bunin, Khodasevich), and repressed writers (Gumilyov, Mandelstam) were hidden from the people. Back in the early 1930s, Stalin called Bulgakov’s play “Running” an anti-Soviet phenomenon, an attempt to “justify or half-justify the White Guard cause.” Stalin also allowed himself rude comments towards such a poet, who seemed closely associated with the party, as Demyan Bedny. Stalin called him a “cowardly intellectual” who did not know the Bolsheviks well, and this was enough for the doors of editorial offices and publishing houses to be closed in front of Bedny.
- « Measuring the growth of writers is a matter for readers. Explanation of social meaning works of literature - a matter of criticism»;
- “excessive praise of some can cause in others feelings and moods that are harmful to our common cause”;
- “the party and the government gave the writer everything, taking away only one thing from him - the right to write badly”;
“I sometimes speak harshly, but I’m not talking about the writer, but about his work. I'm greedy. My mother - the literature of the Union Soviet Socialist Republics - celebrates the years of her birth. Out of my greed, I desperately want her to receive good gifts.” " We still exercise the "right to write badly"».
- « collective work over the material of the past will help us to understand more broadly and deeply the achievements of the present and the requirements of the future."
“These works do not set each writer a narrowly defined task: write about the mood of catfish or ruffs in the thirties of the 19th century. The writer chooses from the material what best suits his individual taste, does not force his abilities. Such collective works will create, perhaps, a semi-finished product, but they will offer many, many excellent material for individual artistic creativity and, most importantly."
Proclamation of the method of socialist realism as the main one in new literature. The congress was preceded by the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of April 23, 1932 “On the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations,” which abolished many literary organizations - and above all RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers) - and created a single Union of Writers. Its goal was declared “to unite all writers who support the platform of Soviet power and strive to participate in socialist construction...”. The Congress was preceded by some liberal changes in the public atmosphere:
1) culture came to the fore as the most reliable bastion in the fight against fascism. At this time, M. Gorky’s famous article “Who are you with, masters of culture?” appeared, addressed to the writers of the world, to their reason and conscience: it formed the basis for many decisions of the Congress of Writers in Defense of Culture (Paris, 1935), in which among others, B. L. Pasternak participated;
2) on the eve of the congress, many “fierce zealots”, carriers of communist arrogance, real “demons” - persecutors of M. A. Bulgakov, A. P. Platonov, N. A. Klyuev, S. A. Klychkov, V. lost their influence. Y. Shishkova and others, such peddlers of vigilance and a caste approach to culture as L. Averbakh, S. Rodov, G. Lelevich, O. Beskin and others. And vice versa, some former oppositionists were involved in active work in the field of culture ( N. I. Bukharin was appointed editor of Izvestia and was even approved as a speaker on poetry at the First Congress instead of N. Aseev);
3) already before the congress, the idea of the greatest responsibility of creative achievements, their words for the people in the harsh, actually pre-war decade, when gunpowder smelled from all borders, was introduced into the minds of writers - sometimes despotic - about the inadmissibility of fruitless formalistic experiments, trickery, naturalistic everyday writing, and especially preaching the powerlessness of man, immorality, etc.
The Congress of Writers was opened on August 17, 1934 in the Hall of Columns in Moscow with an opening speech by M. Gorky, in which the words were heard: “With pride and joy I open the first Congress of Writers in the history of the world.” Subsequently, there were alternate reports from writers - M. Gorky himself, S. Ya. Marshak (on children's literature), A. N. Tolstoy (on drama) - and party functionaries N. I. Bukharin, K. B. Radek, speeches by A. A. Zhdanov, E. M. Yaroslavsky and others.
What and how did the writers themselves talk about - not functionaries at all, not obsequious rushers in creativity - Yuri Olesha, Boris Pasternak, V. Lugovskoy? They talked about the sharply increased role of the people in the character, type of creativity, and in the fate of writers.
“Do not break away from the masses... Do not sacrifice face for the sake of position... With the enormous warmth with which the people and the state surround us, the danger of becoming a literary dignitary is too great. Away from this affection in the name of its direct sources, in the name of great, practical, and fruitful love for the homeland and the present greatest people"(B. Pasternak).
“We took and nibbled on topics. In many ways, we walked along the top, not into the depths... This coincides with the drying up of the influx of fresh material, with the loss of a coherent and dynamic sense of the world. We need to free up space in front of ourselves... Our goal is poetry, free in scope, poetry coming not from the elbow, but from the shoulder. Long live space! (V. Lugovskoy).
The positive side of the work of the congress was that although the names of M. Bulgakov, A. Platonov, O. Mandelstam, N. Klyuev were not mentioned, A. Bezymensky and D. Bedny were silently relegated to the background. And the frantic singer of collectivization F. Panferov (with his multi-page “Whetstones”) appeared as a phenomenon of very low artistic culture.
Was the method (the principle of world exploration, the initial spiritual and moral position) of socialist realism to blame for many of the sins of literature?
When developing the definition of the method, the fact that it was necessary was clearly taken into account - this is the spirit of the 30s, the spirit of a return to Russian classics, to Russia, the motherland! - discard the aesthetic directives of L. D. Trotsky, the “demon of revolution”, in the 20s. which prescribed a break with the past, the denial of any continuity: “The revolution crossed time in half... Time is cut into living and dead halves, and one must choose the living one” (1923). It turns out that in the dead half of culture are Pushkin, Tolstoy, and all the literature of critical realism?!
Under these conditions, a kind of “aesthetic revolution” took place; a definition of the method and the main point, the requirement for its functioning was found: “a truthful, historically specific image of reality in its development.” Witness and participant in conversations between writers (most often in the house of M. Gorky), chairman of the Organizing Committee of the First Congress, editor of “New World” I. M. Gronsky recalled the path to this definition:
“...I suggested calling ( creative method. - V.Ch.) proletarian socialist, and even better, communist realism... We will emphasize two points: firstly, the class, proletarian nature of Soviet literature, and secondly, we will indicate to literature the goal of the entire movement, the entire struggle of the working class - communism.
“You correctly pointed out the class, proletarian character of Soviet literature,” Stalin remarked, answering me, “and you correctly named the goal of our entire struggle... Pointing out the ultimate goal of the struggle of the working class - communism - is also correct. But we do not pose as a practical task the question of the transition from socialism to communism... Pointing to communism as a practical goal, you are getting a little ahead of yourself... How would you react if we called the creative method of Soviet literature and art socialist realism? The advantage of such a definition is, firstly, brevity (only two words), secondly, clarity and, thirdly, an indication of continuity in the development of literature.”
Socialist realism is an accurate reflection of the era of the 30s. as the pre-war era, which required extreme monolithicity, the absence of strife and even disputes, an ascetic era, in a certain sense simplified, but extremely holistic, hostile to individualism, immorality, and anti-patriotism. Having received retroactive force, that is, having been extended to the story “Mother” by Gorky, to the Soviet classics of the 20s, it gained powerful support and persuasiveness. But called upon to be “responsible” for the ideologically depleted, normative literature of the 40-50s, almost for the entire “mass culture”, he became the object of feuilleton-cheeky irony.