Vsesojuznoe soveščanie kritikov [10-08-1934] - [D007]

Concise description of the directive:

Before the abolition of the RAPP (23 April 1932), literary criticism was predominantly political: critics knew how close writers were to the proletariat. After the decree, critics of RAPP felt disconcerted and tried to renounce even the positive results of the past. After the decree, critics also gave more consideration to the imagery of poetic works, the development of aesthetic taste and technical issues. Soviet poetry is optimistic poetry. There is no more room for the egocentrism, individualism, despair and morbid darkness typical of capitalist countries and of our past. I. Altman: In order to create the new socialist aesthetic, one must not deny normative aesthetics. To deny normative aesthetics is to weaken our interest in classical heritage and take away our desire to fight for the new socialist aesthetic. Theatre critics must not idolise directors: if Vsevolod Meyerhold bends towards aestheticism, critics must point it out.