Pisatel’ i massy (Biblioteka v pomošč’ sovetskomu pisatelju i literaturnomu kritiku) (di N. Krupskaja) [1933] - [D141]

Concise description of the directive:

Nadezhda Krupskaya, wife of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and a leading figure in Soviet political, cultural, and educational life, devotes her contribution to the relationship between the writer, criticism, and the reading public of the working masses.
According to Krupskaya, there is a way to bring up to date even that literature which, although it has lost strength from an artistic or moral point of view, continues to circulate in the Soviet cultural context. Similarly, it is possible to intervene on those texts that express ideological positions that are foreign or contrary to the interests of the working class. The most effective way to fulfil this function is, in her opinion, the widespread dissemination of literary criticism. The crux, however, lies in making this criticism truly understandable and useful to the masses. It is not enough to make theoretically correct judgments: it is necessary for the critic to learn to address the workers’ audience directly, in particular the workers and peasants. It must approach literary works from the perspective of contemporary problems, taking into account issues that concretely affect the people. In this way, criticism not only interprets texts, but also provides tools to read them with awareness and analytical spirit.
The same literary work can be read in very different ways, depending on who is reading it. A reader with a bourgeois worldview will tend to pick up only those elements that reflect their own sensibilities, often leaving out what constitutes the ideological heart of the work. A reader belonging to the working classes, on the other hand, even though he may not pay attention to certain formal aspects, can often grasp the deeper meaning of the text and the author’s intentions. Sometimes, Krupskaya observes, it is precisely this type of reader who manages to give the author a new understanding of his own work.
She also underscores the central role of libraries as instruments of ideological education and dissemination of culture among the masses. Krupskaya emphasises the importance of librarians, who are often few in number but very dedicated, and advocates close cooperation between them and writers to guide public reading. Libraries must become active centres of criticism and education, capable of collecting and organising readers’ reactions, thus contributing to the development of literature and socialist consciousness.

Ilaria Aletto, Maria Zavyalova