Carrying Forward and Opening New Horizons (On Several Issues in the Development of Soviet Literature)

Author: A. Mettchenko
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-02-01
Features: This book discusses the emergence and development of Socialist Realism from the perspective of theoretical and historical analysis, reviewing the new issues or aspects that emerged in each historical stage of Soviet literature's development. The book addresses the following topics in sequence: the historical prerequisites for the emergence of Soviet literature, the significance of Soviet cultural policies, the evolution of class consciousness and popular nature, and the issue of party-line, the conflicts and struggles among literary trends in the 1920s, the emergence of the term "Socialist Realism," its connections and distinctions from old realism, the debates at the Second All-Union Congress of Writers, the problem of depicting reality, the trials of the Great Patriotic War, the debates in the 1950s about ideal characters, positive heroes, and "little people," the influence of modernism, the boundaries of self-expression and subjectivity, the conventions of literature, the integrality of literature, and other issues. The author either expresses definitive opinions or critiques these issues, demonstrating their own stance and attitude. Overall, the book provides a wealth of literary historical materials, offering some reference value for the study of Soviet literature and its theory. The book was awarded the Soviet State Literature Prize in 1973.