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An Analysis of Righteous Suffering in Soviet Socialist Realism from N.E.P University of Nevada, Reno For What Must We Suffer? An Analysis of Righteous Suffering in Soviet Socialist Realism from N.E.P. to High Stalinism A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by John Benjamin Dr. Barbara Walker/Thesis Advisor December, 2011 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by JOHN BENJAMIN entitled For What Must We Suffer? An Analysis Of Righteous Suffering In Soviet Socialist Realism From N.E.P. To High Stalinism be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Barbara Walker, Ph.D., Advisor Scott Casper, Ph.D., Committee Member Dennis Dworkin, Ph.D., Committee Member Justin Gifford, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative Marsha H. Read, Ph. D., Associate Dean, Graduate School December, 2011 i Thesis Abstract: Socialist Realism, as both a literary and historical phenomenon, has been a neglected subject within 20th century Soviet history. Although a handful of scholars have investigated the evolution of the genre, the majority of Western literary historians remain focused on anti-Soviet writings of the Thaw era. This thesis primarily discusses Socialist Realism in the 1930s, during the era of Stalin's reign. It argues that Socialist Realist novels of this decade shared a common literary theme: “righteous suffering.” To supplement this research, this thesis expands the historical scope of both the genre of Socialist Realism and the theme of suffering as far back as the pre-Revolutionary era and as far forward as the Thaw generation. This section combines literary analysis with a new methodology in Soviet studies known as the “emotional turn.” Maxim Gorky's 1907, Mother, created a literary formula for Socialist Realist authors during Stalin's reign by depicting the struggle for socialism as a battle for basic humanity. He places “righteous suffering” at the foreground of his prose, and reinforces both narrative description and character speech with highly emotional words and phrases. Although this mode of writing did not become a literary standard for Socialist Realism until the 1930s, righteous suffering as a theme became central to the genre during this decade. It was not until after Stalin's death that Soviet writers began to question whether or not suffering in the name of the Communist Party could actually be considered righteous. Finally, this thesis demonstrates the changes which took place in the world of literary production from 1907 to 1968. Specifically, it links these socio-political shifts to the alterations in “righteous suffering” and Socialist Realism as a whole. ii Table of Contents Introduction.........................................................................................1 Chapter One: Historiography and Historical Background.................6 Chapter Two: Examining the Evolution of Socialist Realism through Literary Analysis...............................................................................35 Thesis Conclusion and Bibliography...............................................135 1 From the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Soviet authors and artists critical of the regime received a great deal of attention from historians, journalists, and other scholars living in the West. Authors such as Mikhail Bulagov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others have attracted particular notice due to their anti-Soviet stance. Such enthusiasm for “dissident” literature has, however, overshadowed the existence of other kinds of writing published in the Soviet Union. What about those works that did not criticize the utopian socialism? And what about those works which actually supported the actions of the Soviet government? While literary critics and literary historians have gradually come to appreciate these pro-Soviet forms of literature, generally they have continued to receive little attention. In many ways, this paints a rather inaccurate picture of early Soviet literary culture. Russian communists have, historically, placed a high premium on the relationship between art and society, with a particular focus on literature. Furthermore, Vladimir Lenin sought to educate and indoctrinate the populace by enabling mass literacy. It was not long before various authors wrote passionate pieces of fiction which glorified the cause of utopian socialism. Eventually, a patronage system developed in which the Soviet government gave financial support to authors whom they deemed the most talented and the most worthy. This support was institutionalized though the establishment of the Soviet Writers' Union in 1934. The genre of literature which eventually became the Soviet Writers' Union's “official” medium of literary expression became known as Socialist Realism (or more 2 specifically, “"formulaic Socialist Realism,"a term which this thesis will use to denote the literature of the 1930s). This style borrowed heavily from the Western Romantic movement which had been a phenomenon in Europe only about fifty years prior. Although the central theme of “formulaic Socialist Realism” revolved around the modernist principles of material progress, the tone of these novels was far from being rationalistic and devoid of human emotion. On the contrary, the literary appeal of “formulaic Socialist Realism” was its ability to take the principles of the determinist Marxism/Leninism philosophy and give them a true human face. Characters who band together to fight for a greater socialist society confide in one another not only for the sake of a common cause, but for a sense of friendship and belonging. Furthermore, these characters undergo struggles and hardship throughout these novels, and the authors bring their physical and mental suffering to the forefront of the story. Yet, Socialist Realism did not always conform to a rigid formula. In the years before Stalin's reign, “Socialist Realism” (hereafter referred to as "categorical Socialist Realism") simply denoted a genre of literary prose which engaged in a discussion about socialism based on real world events, both contemporary and historical events. This contrast is especially notable during the 1920's (The New Economic Policy era) when Soviet society practiced a higher degree of artistic freedom. In other words, Socialist Realism did not acquire an explicit political purpose until the thirties, after Soviet Writers' Union had established a rigid template for Soviet writers to follow if they had even the slightest hope of becoming published. The primary focus of this thesis will be on the “formulaic Socialist Realist” 3 literature of the late 1920s and early-to-mid 1930s. The argument presented in these pages will be that these works, in spite of their individual differences, shared a common literary theme. This was the theme of “righteous suffering.” Socialist Realists created a world in which their protagonists suffered physical, mental, and psychological hardship for the greater good of the the Communist Party. These authors made clear distinctions between the sort of suffering which carries a positive connotation, and that which carries a negative tone. Instances of bourgeois oppression, wanton violence, and “unproductive” personal struggles in the genre led to “"unwarranted suffering",” in contrast to “righteous suffering.” Both “unwarranted” and “righteous suffering” are revealed through character speech, as well as are numerous instances where they instead use descriptive prose to show suffering through setting, plot, and physical action, as this thesis will demonstrate. To reinforce this major theme of “righteous suffering,” these authors also include three specific literary sub-themes: militant and emotional prose, the depiction of socialism as a struggle between civilization and barbarism, and the notion of personal sacrifice. While it was not until the Stalinist era that "formulaic Socialist Realism" became the de facto literature of the Communist Party, many of its narrative conventions had derived from authors of previous decades. The most critical of these authors was Maxim Gorky, who not only established the groundwork for the Soviet Writers' Union, but also provided a narrative structure for "righteous suffering" in his pinnacle work, Mother (1907), as this thesis will show. His contribution to Socialist Realism as a whole assumed both a literary and administrative significance. This thesis examines three novels which exemplify the use vivid, militant, and emotional language to support the 4 greater theme of "righteous suffering:" Fyodor Gladkov's Cement (1925), Nikolai Ostrovsky's How The Steel was Tempered (1932), and finally Mikhail Sholokov's Virgin Soil Upturned (1935). In addition, this research discusses two important pieces of “categorical Socialist Realism” (a term I use to denote Socialist Realism from the 1920s) to demonstrate a literary and historical comparison: Valentin Kataev's Embezzlers (1923) and Leonid Leonov's The Badgers (1924). Finally, Fyodor Abramov's Two Winters and Three Summers illustrates the way that writers of the 1950s and 1960s period questioned and defied the Stalinist language of “righteous suffering.” To assist with the examination of these primary sources from the perspective of "righteous suffering", this thesis employs a particular methodology known as the “history of emotion.” Although this relatively new approach has taken a variety of forms, a recent Summer 2009 special edition of the Slavic Review contains examples of scholars
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