"But then why have literature at all? After all, the writer is a teacher of the people; surely that's what we've always understood? And a greater writer–forgive me, perhaps I shouldn't say this, I'll lower my voice–a greater writer is, so to speak, a second government. That's why no regime anywhere has ever loved its great writers, only its minor ones."

-Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle (1968)

The Changing Role of Women

Strakhov-Braslavskij A. I., 1926  
"Emancipated women/ build up Socialism."


 

International Institute of Social History, 1920
"This is what the October Revolution has given to the working and peasant women: cafeteria/ library/ workers club/ school for adults/ house for a mother and child"




N. Valerianov, 1925
"Worker and peasant women,/ all should go to the polls!/ Gather under the Red Banner along with men!/ We bring fear to the bourgeoisie."




G. Shegal, 1931
"Down with kitchen slavery! Let there be new household life!"


Sources:
"Emancipated Woman – Build Up Socialism!: Propaganda Posters in Communist Russia." International Museum of Women. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

 

"We Are Birds in Migration"

We are birds in migration from this world to that.
(That sounds coarse, like the German Tod.)
And when our hour is announced‚
When our season nears its end‚
A true compass awakens inside us
And shows the world’s fifth point.
Invisible wings flutter nervously
And the inner gaze slowly turns
In bitter longing‚ as if prophetic‚
Toward the garden it knows: it
Sees miracles‚ and longing
Lengthens‚ doubled‚ as
The caravans fly off.

Elena Shvarts (translated by Stephanie Sandler)

Source:
"We Are Birds in Migration." Boston Review. Apr. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

Femenine Presence in 20th Century Russian/Soviet Literature

     I was recently inspired to join the Women Writer's Reading Group, a grassroots initiative committed to recognizing the woefully underrepresented female presence in the literary world. The are no restrictions on who may participate. So, look into joining if you are interested. The project's initiator, Hila Shachar has kindly created a member's badge, the link to which is as follows: http://hila-lumiere.blogspot.com/p/women-writers-reading-group.html. By posting the button, you commit to:

1. Making a conscious decision to read books by women, and;

2. Reviewing books by women on my blog/website.

While you're their, check out Hila's blog. It is amazing.

     This week, I began drafting a list of titles by soviet women. It did not take me long to realize that the ratio of male to female writers in 20th Russian/Soviet literature is even more disproportionate than it is in Western literature of the same period. This realization came as something of a surprise. During the Soviet era, it became useful to the communist cause to recognize the equal utility of men and women. A propaganda campaign was launched to promote the regime's claim that the Soviet Union was "the world's most emancipated nation." At one time, women made up a staggering 51% of the nation's work force. Of course, this growing number had more to do with necessity than it had to do with equality for equality's sake. Between wars fought on foreign soil and purges at home between 1914 and 1945, the nation was drained of 40 million men. Among those unfortunate souls were many hundreds of male writers. It is interesting, therefore, that women did not inherit a more prominent role in the literary culture. However, I digress. The project: Every month for the next six months, I will write a critical analysis of one of the titles listed blow. It was my intention to commit 12 months to the project, but I was unable, after two days of searching the web, to come up with six more titles. This, I think, only stresses the importance of the undertaking. I am especially eager to read Birdsong on the Seabed. I have two reasons for feeling this way. 1) I am in awe of the few Shvarts poems with which I am already familiar. 2) I'm not above judging a book by its title.

• Elena Shvarts-  Birdsong on the Seabed    

• Vera Figner-  Memoirs of a Revolutionist      

• Nadezhda Teffi-  All About Love

• Vera Panova-  Seryozha: Several Stories from the Life of a Very Small Boy

• Tatyana Tolstaya-  White Walls: Collected Stories

• Zinaida Gippius-  The Green Ring: A Play in Four Acts

Sources:

Good, Jane E. "Soviet Women: Walking the Tightrope." Washington Post Book World 20.10 (11 Mar. 1990): 1. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 153. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

"After all, in the Soviet Union the rarest and most valuable thing is a memory."

-Solomon Volkov, from the preface to Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich

"Fascism Is Advancing"

"In my dream I saw a creature, his eyes like the barrels of a gun. I called the painting 'Fascism Is Advancing."

The above quote, describing the Yevgeni Lysenko's conception of the painting (alternately called "The Bull"),  is taken from the 2010 documentary “The Desert of Forbidden Art.”

The film canonizes the life of Igor Savitsky, without whose noble actions over 40,000 avante gaurde works of art would undoubtfully have been destroyed, including Lysenko's "Fascism Is Advancing." In 1966, he founded the  Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art or the Nuko Museum where he could "safely" house those works he managed to preserve. During an  routine inspection of the museum by party officials, the ambiguous political theme of Lysenko's painting came into question and the Savitsky was ordered to remove it from the wall. He did so without argument and, as soon as the officials were off the premises, returned the paintig to the place it had just been hanging.

An Introduction

     Ah, the obligatory first post. I suppose I should begin with an introduction. My name is Hannah Stewart and I study communications at the Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts. About me: I have a fancy prose style, so everything I post is suspect. In fact, you should probably heed Humbert Humbert's advice and not trust a word I write. (Please, don't do that. I'm actually very reliable. Really.) What else do you need to know before I begin? I consume pistachios by the barrel-full, I enjoy constructing elaborate scenes with taxidermied rodents, and I have an affinity for 20th century Russian literature.
     This blog is devoted to the latter. Rather, it is devoted to Soviet arts culture as a whole. During the past year, I made a conscious effort to immerse myself in all things Soviet and have found the effort supremely rewarding. However, as is so often my experience, I have grown weary of acting as my own sound board. I must put thoughts to keyboard. So it is with a brave heart that I, now, venture into this strange, new universe known as the blogosphere. I hope this little endeavor proves as useful to my readers as to myself. Enjoy, and be sure to take a moment, and say hello to Behemoth (cat with mushroom on left).