Vidnejšee mesto [15-11-1937] - [D049]

Concise description of the directive:

The refined intelligentsia of the West feels a strong interest in any cultural phenomenon emanating from Soviet art, from Moscow. The truth about the literature, theatre and cinema of the Soviet country strikes Western intellectuals so hard because there is remarkable decadence in their countries. In many western countries, fascism, like a hurricane, has swept away the last bastions of culture. In three years, fascism destroyed everything positive that existed in the cinema, theatre and literature of Germany. The Italian fascist press is forced to admit on its own that Italian literature has decayed incredibly, and that Italian theatre is dying. Books by a writer already famous in Italy sell only 500 copies. Italian writers and publishers blame each other, but all agree that the book is experiencing a deep crisis. The situation in capitalist countries is not much better. In France, it is almost no longer possible to publish a book of poetry because it will not sell. Few French writers manage to survive on honoraria and are therefore forced to combine literary work with other professions. The print runs in the USSR seem like a fantastic dream to writers in capitalist countries. Many intellectual circles in the West have made attempts to save books, but such attempts always prove futile as capitalism complains of a surplus of educated people. In Italy, where almost a quarter of the population cannot read, the fascist press calls for a reduction in the number of educational institutions. The fight against the “excess” of culture in Italy, Germany and France goes hand in hand with inner decadence and emptying. Art without an object is no longer the slogan of a small group of degenerate bourgeois aesthetes; it is now the main trend of all bourgeois art. It has no essence because it has no great idea around which to align itself and without which an art cannot exist. The example of the USSR inspires the working class throughout the world. Culture has not belonged to the bourgeoisie for a long time now. Culture as such becomes a negation of capitalism and an accomplice of the socialist country, and the proletarians of all countries. In Fascist Italy, where the government forbade the establishment of an official commission for the celebration of Pushkin’s centenary, there was enormous interest in Russian language, culture and literature. According to the Rome-based magazine “Meridiano”, this interest has arisen in the last twenty years. The number of people studying Russian language and literature, previously insignificant, grew ‘miraculously’ after the World War. Another Italian magazine complains that the centenary of Leopardi, a poet who died in the same year as Pushkin, was celebrated much less than Pushkin’s worldwide. The new culture, just like the best legacy of the old culture, belongs to the new world of socialism. As Comrade Molotov said on the 20th anniversary of the Revolution, the most important role in defending the interests of all progress, culture and national freedom now belongs to the first socialist revolution.