Vsesojuznoe soveščanie kritikov [08-08-1934] - [D005]

Concise description of the directive:

P. Yudin: the main task of Soviet critics is to develop socialist aesthetics. The main problem to be discussed is that of socialist realism. Study the forms of class struggle that characterise the current phase of the Soviet literary movement. Analysing the differentiation between Soviet writers and critics: 1) a group characterised by a passionate interest in socialist reality; 2) loyal but not passionate writers (D. Mirsky’s “cold objectivism”). M. Rozental: socialist realism (SR) – this is a new method, the creation of a new Marxist and Leninist aesthetic. Issues to consider: content and form, typical features in bourgeois and Soviet literature, composition, plot etc. Premises of the development of SR: the proletariat is the most realistic class of all in the Marxist conception. Reflection theory serves as the basis for all areas of the proletariat’s activity, including literature and art. Reflection theory is the conceptual basis of SR. SR is to be seen as the conclusion of earlier literary history, hence the question of its relationship to the legacy of the classics. This relationship must be determined by the tasks of the proletariat in the field of literature. Socialist realism also has a new style. Yet critics currently face the danger of “vulgarniy sociologizm” (vulgar sociological criticism), a pseudo-Marxist criticism that tends to portray socialist realism only as the philosophy of the writer, without considering his style. E. Dobin: the special features of socialist realism must be defined. These include: its heroic character (as in Gorky’s early works) reflecting the heroism of the working class. Bourgeois writers renounced the typical heroes of romanticism because their characters seemed fake and did not correspond to bourgeois reality. G. Korabelnikov: criticism can no longer consider only the ideological position of the author while ignoring the aesthetic side of his works.