On Socialist Realism

99 Pages·1960·1.27 MB·English

by  Andrei Sinyavsky

111I9 59t wo nLann\·crbiyp atns a nony­
nzouyso ungS oviewtr itewre res ecretly
taketno P ariasn dp ublishtehde rfeo rt iLe
firstth neR.e centltyh,efi rsotf t heset,h e
precedent-shatstheorritnn go vel,T he
TrialB eginasp,p eariednA 111erOinc ai.t s
publicatTiionn,1r ee ferrteodi ta s ((per­
flaptsh e1 nosrte nzarkanbolvee tlo h ave
conzeo uto f Russias incteh eR evolu­
tio.n. .." Now thes econndL aJlltscript,
alsao worko fn wjori nzportainscp eu,b ­
lishweidt ahn i ntroducbtyit ohnee nlinent
Polisahu thoCrz,e slaMwi losz.
Fonnulatbeyd M axinGzo rkyd urintgh e
heighotf t heS talidni ctatorsthhiedp o,c ­
trinoef S ocialriesatl ihsans1s urvivaeldl
ther ecenvti cissitoufdS eosv iepto litics.
Indeedt,h iase sthettihce oriys n o nzere
111atotfet ra stfeo rt heR ussh1c1i1t izienn
generaanld t heR ussiaanr tiisntp articu­
larW.i thi tgsl orificaotfit ohne s tatiet,s
optinzisn1-bya-nddei ctrsfe uen,d wnental
ai1t1o1e ducatteh ew orkerisnt hes piroi)t
socialitshnizsi, s t hep hilosopwhhyi ch
dictattehse w holet onea nd tenzpeor j
Russialni fTeo. a ttactkh efl oodo fn ovels,
poe1nsa,n d playsp roduceudn dert hi.�
theorya'esg iS-{Al bSr wnT ertd;.o esh ere
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Russialni terahriys tory, ATberrat1zn' s
essaiys a to ncea n intellecatnudah li s­
toricdaolc umenotfg rea1tn omenatn da n
encouragrienvge latoifno enw c rititceanl­
denciewsi thins upposedmloyn olithic
Russia.
To keeph isi dentiat ys ecreAtb,r am
Tertzb orrowehdi sp seudonyfmr om
a charactienra now bannedM oscow
Universsittuyd ensotn gH.i sw orki ndi­
catetsh ahte i sa younmga n,a ndi ti sc on­
ceivabtlhea th e waso neo ft hey oung
writewrhso sew orka ppearebdr iefliyn
Russiian1 956d urintgh e firsto fyt ehaer
11thawM.o"s ti mportatnott heW estern
readehri,sw ritisnhgo whsi se ducatiboyn
theS ovietasn d a lovinagn d thorough
knowledogfeR ussialni teratIutir seo .b ­
vioushliys c oncerfno rt hef uturoef h is
countryl'ist erattuhraeti nducehdi mt o
arrangfeo rt hed angerotursa nspforrotm
Russioaf h isi mportamnets sagteo t he
outsiwdoer ld.
Jackdeets ibgynJ aneHta h·erson
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
ON SOCIALIST REALISM
BY THE SAME AUTHOR: TheTr ial Begins
ON
SOCIALIST
REALISM
byA bram Tertz
INTRODUCTION BY CZESLAW MILOSZ
PantheBoono ks
Thet exotf O n SocialRiesatl ism
ist ranslabtyeG de orgDee nnis.
© 196b0y P antheoBno oks,
a DivisioofnR andomH ouseI,n c.,
333S ixtAhv enueN,e w York1 4N,. Y.
Allr ightrse servedi,n cluditnhger ightto r eproduce
thibso oko rp ortiotnhse reionfa nyf onn.
LibraroyfC ongresCsa taloCga rdN umber:6 1-10028.
Manufacturiendt heU niteSdt ateosfA merica
byH .W olffB ookM fg.C o.N,e w YorkN,. Y.
PUBLISHER'NSO TE
On SocialRiesatl isims r egardeads t het heoretical
companioann d justificatoiofn t hei maginative
worlpdr esentienAd b ramT ertzn'osv elTh,e Trial
BeginsI.tar rivesdi multaneowuistlhty h en oveiln
theW esta ndw asfi rsptu blishbeytd h eF rencrhe ­
viewL 'EsprTitw.o leadiinngt ellecmtaugaalz ines
inE uropeK,ul turianP arisa ndl lT empoP resente
in Rome,s ubsequenptulbyl ishtehde mt ogethaesr
complementawroyr ksT.h e worko riginaalpl­y
peareind t hicso untinr yt hep ageosf D issenmta ga­
zine.

m
INTRODUCTION
T
hee sys awhihc follwoawssw rittientn h e
SoviteU noina ndsn etb yi sta uhtotrh orugfhr nides
toP airsa,s ihngt hatb epi utbi lsh.eI dtc amoeu t
firtsi n1 959i, na F rencthr alnaisnto,i nt hPea ris
monhtyl Esptr.Wie neehdav en od oubats itsto
auhtenitcyi.Wt e don oktn owt hwer tiern'amse ,
norw oultdhr eeb ea nyp oitni nt ryitnodg si cvoer
itA.ll t hee videngcoees t os how,h owevetrh,a t
heb elonsg tot hyeo ungegre neiroanot fR usisan
wrietsr,e ducaetde ntiruenldyet rhp eo tservoilou­nt
ayr sysmt.Te hef acttht a hhea sd edceidt oh ave
hi·wso hr pubilshaebdr osahodw sh ibse ilfei nt he
importoafnw cheah te h ast os ya.L euts c nosider
tihss etph:e rwee h avea manw itahm pel taelnt
foartt ainpionpg urliyat inh si ownc ournytb,u t
whos certeylw ritseosmt ehiinntge ndaetbd e sfto r
raedignb ya s maglrlo uopfi nimtaets.H et hegno es
toa greadte aolft rboelu top lahciems a nusicprt
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