socialist realism
John McCarthy
followed my sources to closely - the dictionary, the Encyclopedia
Britannica and the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
The result resembles a socialist realist version of a certain
Elizabethan play, which we entitle _Scotland_. In its original form
the play is too long, so we have shortened it by omitting unnecessary
detail. The play is about a king named Duncan, Duncan's sons Malcolm
and Donalbain, a loyal retainer named Banquo, his son Fleance, a loyal
retainer of Duncan's named Macduff and sundry minor characters.
King Duncan was killed, and suspicion fell on his sons who fled to
England. General Banquo didn't believe that Duncan's sons had killed
him, and worried about his son, had him flee also. After a while
Banquo was killed, and there was a civil war, which was won by a
nobleman named Macduff and order was restored. Three witches played a
prophetic role in the play. Here are two scenes, very slightly
shortened, so you can get an idea of the beautiful poetic language.
Scene 1 An open Place. Thunder and lightning.
Enter three Witches.
1st Witch. When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning or in rain?
2nd Witch. When the hurly-burly's done.
When the battle's lost and won.
3rd Witch. That will be ere set of sun.
1st Witch. Where the place?
2nd Witch. Upon the heath.
3rd Witch. There to meet with Banquo.
1st Witch. I come, Graymalkin!
All. Paddock calls: anon! -
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
**A further scene involving Banquo and the witches.**
Enter Banquo and another nobleman.
Nobleman. So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
Banquo. How far is't call'd to Forres? - What are these,
So wither'd and so wild in their attire;
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? - Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each her chappy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips. - You should be women,
And yet your beards for bit me to interpret
That you are so.
Nobleman. Speak if you can; what are you?
1st Witch. Hail!
2nd Witch. Hail!
3rd Witch. Hail!
1st Witch. Lesser, and yet greater.
2nd Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier.
3rd Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.
So all hail, Banquo.
***
To really understand socialist realism you should go through the
exercise of completing the play in this style.
It is entirely clear why the Great Soviet Encyclopedia left Stalin out
of its article on socialist realism. It is less clear why the
Britannica did so, but the 15th edition defers to Soviet sources in
much of its writing on the Soviet Union. For an eye-opener about that
compare the articles on Estonia in the 14th edition, which describes
the process whereby the Soviets took over, with the article on the
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic in the 15th edition which leaves
out almost everything about how Estonia became part of the USSR. I
suppose the Britannica editors considered that they were doing their
bits for world peace by not including material that might make young
people susceptible to war-mongering propaganda. Does anyone know
whether the Britannica is still selling encyclopedias containing an
article that Estonians will surely find extremely offensive?
I don't remember what I read very well, but the key point is that
Stalin considered himself an expert on everything, especially
literature and art, and all Soviet writing flattered him and deferred
to him and thanked him for his guidance. That is, up to the time of
his death in 1953. His henchman, Zhdanov, carried out his wishes in
the area of culture and science. Stalin said, "Writers are the
engineers of human souls." I suppose he considered himself the
architect who told the writers what to do.
After Stalin died, both his close henchmen and almost everyone he
attacked became non persons. However, the Party and the General
Secretary in particular retain the prerogative of making
pronouncements and issuing commands in literature and the arts. Both
Khrushchev and Brezhnev took advantage of it. The only people who
could safely be mentioned, because they couldn't offend, were people
who died before the purges. This includes Gorky (died 1934) and
Mayakovsky (died in the 1920s). Including Prokofiev as a socialist
realist was a moderately bold act even under the Brezhnev regime.
While he had died in the same week as Stalin, his opera _Lady Macbeth
of Mtsensk_ had been withdrawn at Stalin's orders and severely
criticized by all the toadies, including some who were still active in
the 1970s.
In my previous posting, I wrote
***
I don't understand the 1943, and my memory agrees with the Britannica
article on socialist realism.
Socialist Realism, thoery and method of literary composition
established in the Soviet Union in 1932 as the sole
criterion of measuring literary works. Defined and
reinterpreted over years of polemics, it remains a vague
term, a fact attested by the numerous loyal Communist
writers who often inadvertently fail to comply with its
tenets.
(The Britannica goes on with history.)
***
What the Britannica said was true, but it was like leaving Macbeth
out of the play.
During Stalin's lifetime, it was impossible to be sure of one's
socialist realist orthodoxy, because if Stalin had a whim that you
were a bad guy, you were discovered to have written anti-socialist
stuff. Admittedly, after his death it was possible to play it
safe, and most people did, just sneaking a little bit of unorthodoxy
in. I remember a Russian friend showing me a play _The Dragon_
by Evgenii Schwartz about a hero who saves the cowardly villagers
from the dragon which demanded maidens as tributes. She told me
that the dragon represented Stalin and pointed out various
subtleties.
I think that literary historians still take what was said in the
controversies about literature in the Soviet Union and among
leftist critics too seriously and ignore the importance of
Stalin's whims during the 20 years he dominated. Even before
he got power over literature and even after he died, struggles over
who got published, who got the dachas and other privileges
were behind arguments of political and literary theory.
Even under capitalism, there is plenty of power politics in the
literary world, but at least conformity cannot be enforced by
calling the police, and there are many avenues to publication.
Look again at Shakespeare and notice how easy it was to take
Macbeth out of _Macbeth_. With more practice, I could get
really good at it.
--
John McCarthy, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA 94305
*
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.