Slovo. Journal of Slavic Languages and Literatures ISSN 2001–7395 No. 54, 2013, pp. 19–48 “It’s wonderful to be a Soviet writer!” Vera Inber’s Northern Journey in 19341 Ben Hellman Department of Modern Languages, Helsinki University
[email protected] Abstract. In the autumn of 1934, the Soviet writer Vera Inber (1890-1972) made a three months’ journey through the Nordic countries. The journey was undertaken on the invitation of Swedish and Norwegian student organizations and friendship societies. She met with journalists and writer-colleagues, gave talks in Stockholm, Uppsala, Oslo, Bergen, Copenhagen and Aarhus and collected material for a planned book about life in modern Scandinavia. In numerous interviews she praised the victories of socialism, the successful solution to the “women’s question” and the visible role of writers in the Soviet Union. When stating that “it’s wonderful to be a Soviet writer”, Inber was in fact at this point of her career passing from being a talented, highly original author of short stories and poems to becoming an obedient tool in the hands of the Communist Party. 1. The Year of 1934 In 1934 two Soviet Russian writers, Boris Pil’njak and Vera Inber, travelled through the Nordic countries, giving interviews, meeting with local writers and appearing before the public. The journeys were undertaken with official permission, and, as one can assume, under the close supervision of the security service. When talking about their life and work, the writers had to remember to express their loyalty to the Communist ideology and praise the Soviet cultural policy.