$Unique_ID{COW03969} $Pretitle{295} $Title{Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Culture} $Subtitle{} $Author{Hippocrene Books, Inc} $Affiliation{Embassy of USSR, Washington DC} $Subject{soviet books writers russian culture libraries library literature book cultural} $Date{1990} $Log{Miss Europe*0396901.scf } Country: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Book: USSR Yearbook '90 Author: Hippocrene Books, Inc Affiliation: Embassy of USSR, Washington DC Date: 1990 Culture [See Miss Europe: Courtesy Embassy of USSR, Washington DC.] Soviet culture is a blend of the spiritual traditions of many nations, traditions that are diverse, highly original and, in some cases, rooted deeply in bygone centuries. Its foundation lies in the culture of Ancient Rus and in the art of Russia in the 17th-19th centuries, the art which put forward humane, lofty and elucidating ideas. It is based on the literature and arts of Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and the peoples of Central Asia, whose cultural heritage dates back to ancient and biblical times. At the same time, the culture of the Russian Empire before the Revolution and that which has formed after it developed and is developing through a process of continuous mutual exchange of ideas and of spiritual values with the culture of Europe and the culture of the East, as well as with that of Africa and Latin America. The Great October Socialist Revolution was the point of departure for Soviet culture. The Russian Empire in 1917 was inhabited both by peoples who had long been participating in the development of world civilization, and those without even their own written language. The Revolution proclaimed their political equality, but this was not enough to overcome their backwardness. That is why not only industrial equipment but scientists and teachers, who helped the backward ethnic minorities to create their own written languages, trained local teachers and contributed to the establishment of their own intelligentsia, were sent to the north and the east from Central Russia. About 50 national minorities acquired written languages after the Revolution. Today literary works are published in around 100 languages in the USSR, and theatres stage plays in 50 languages. Contemporary Kirghiz writer Chinghiz Aitmatov took a line from the poem by Grigor Narekatsi, a medieval Armenian poet, as the epigraph to his novel A Day That Longer Than an Age Does Last-something that would have been most improbable seventy years ago, for at that time the Kirghiz people knew nothing of Narekatsi or Armenian literature. Today Aitmatov's books have been translated into fifty languages. Every nation, no matter how small, keeps and develops its national traditions and language. Love for one's own culture and respect for the cultures of other peoples is the basis of the Soviet multinational culture, which has gone through various periods. There was, in the twenties, a period of innovative quests, with the working class now in power creating a proletarian culture. It sometimes happened that national and classical traditions were mistakenly renounced as being anachronistic to the spirit of the new age. Experience has shown, however, that the new is built on the basis of what was best in the old heritage. There was a time when traditions were canonized, with politicians demanding that art should merely illustrate slogans. Unconventional art came to be viewed as a betrayal of socialism. From the mid-1930s until recently bureaucratic supervision over art put obstacles in the way of artistic works critical of Soviet reality. This could not but damage the tradition of realism, which has always been inherent in literature and the arts of the Russian people and other peoples inhabiting the USSR. In the 1930s and 1940s, the years of the Stalin personality cult, many painters, writers, directors, actors and musicians who refused to obediently follow the directives of the ideological apparatus were persecuted; many of them died in jails and concentration camps. Their works were kept away from the public, were "put on the shelf", to use the current expression, until just recently, when finally they have reached their readers, their viewers, and lovers of art. The years of the Stalin personality cult, the arbitrary repressions of artists in the time of Khrushchev and finally the stagnation period linked with the name of Brezhnev certainly did considerable harm to Soviet culture, but failed to check its progress and, naturally, could not pull it away from the historic cultural process in the world. The treasure-trove of 20th-century world culture includes the novels of Maxim Gorky, Alexei Tolstoy, Mikhail Sholokhov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Yevgeni Zamyatin, Andrei Platonov, Chinghiz Aitmatov and Valentin Rasputin; the poems by Nikolai Gumilyov, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Boris Pasternak, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetayeva, Osip Mandelshtam, Sergei Yesenin, Konstantin Simonov and Alexander Tvardovsky; and the symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofyev and Georgi Sviridov. The development of classical ballet is inconceivable without the dancers Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya, and of operatic art-without Ivan Kozlovsky and Yelena Obraztsova. The stage directors Konstantin Stanislavsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold and Alexander Tairov made a profound contribution to the history of world theatre. The Soviet Union has always taken an active part in the world cultural process. It leads the world in the number of published translated books by foreign authors, of staged plays by foreign playwrights and of films shown from other countries. Although the socialist revolution unambiguously expressed its attitude to the country's cultural heritage, it has happened that while in one part of the country millions were spent to restore an ancient architectural monument, somewhere else a similar monument was demolished for some mundane reason. Today, the protection of monuments has become an issue of great urgency. This is confirmed by the unprecedented public-spirited activity of the population, setting up societies for the protection of monuments, the heated discussions at congresses of writers, artists and architects and the sharply critical publications in the press. The Cultural Foundation of the USSR, founded in 1987, has played a great role in the preservation and restoration of cultural monuments. From the very first days of its existence it showed that the protection of the cultural heritage was in the hands of the people and that they were not about to pardon even the slightest deviation from the law. In Moscow, Leningrad and other cities people began picketing in front of historic objects that were to be demolished, appealing for help to the mass media. Nowadays, with the growing democratization and openness, unions of workers in the arts and literature are taking on an ever greater role, actively coming out against all kinds of bureaucratic obstacles and restrictions. Political leaders of all ranks are now obliged to heed the voice of the artistic intelligentsia. Writers, filmmakers and theatre figures are by no means sitting back and merely watching the process of perestroika under way in this country. LITERATURE Western readers are still at the point of "discovering" contemporary Soviet literature, of whose very existence they have always had only a rather vague idea. This was not, however, because Soviet writers had nothing to say. Chinghiz Aitmatov, one of a few authors whose books have lately been published in the West, remarked in this connection: "We have always had ideas and a face of our own, and we are an inalienable part of modern literature in the world." The restructuring now under way in the nation's culture and the assertion of openness have had a remarkable impact on literature, which, in its turn, is gaining a growing influence on the entire course of changes taking place in the Soviet Union. Soviet writers, at least the best among them, have always shared their nation's and the world's cares and concerns. This is true of such now deceased outstanding Soviet writers as Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Tvardovsky, Fyodor Abramov, Yuri Trifonov and Vasili Shukshin. The same is true of many living Soviet writers. Their talent and sense of civic duty enabled them to pinpoint the most painful problems, show the way out and purify the souls of their readers. People espousing new thinking have appeared in the leadership of the Union of Soviet Writers, its magazines and publishing houses. Although they are not yet in the majority, their influence is quite tangible. Today, official and other types of authority do not prevail over literary authority, and it has become more difficult for timeservers to pass their works as genuine literary creations. Three or four years ago it was easy to answer the question which were the most popular books in the USSR. Ordinary readers to book-lovers would name without hesitation a dozen novels and stories by authors such as Vasil Bykov, Viktor Astafyev, Valentin Rasputin, Chinghiz Aitmatov, Valentin Pikul or Yulian Semyonov. Today the number of popular books has increased considerably, some of them belonging to quite new or previously unpublished writers. Literary journals sell out almost as soon as they are published, because each carries interesting, topical and controversial articles and stories. According to the results of a survey of readers conducted by a number of newspapers and magazines, the most popular authors in 1988 were: Prose: Lev Razgon, A True Story. Anatoli Zhigulin, Black Stones. Andrei Platonov, The Foundation Pit. Marietta Chudakova, The Life of Mikhail Bulgakov. Yuri Dombrovsky, The Faculty of Unwanted Things. Vasili Grossman, Life and Destiny. Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago. Anatoli Rybakov, The Children of Arbat. Irina Odoyevtseva, On the Banks of the Neva. Viktor Astafyev, The Staff That Can See. Poetry: Nikolai Gumilyov, Marina Tsvetayeva, Vladimir Vysotsky, Boris Pasternak, Apollon Grigoryev, losif Brodsky, Alexander Galich, Bulat Okudzhava, Maria Petrovykh, and Yuri Levitansky. Non-fiction: Boris Selyunin, The Sources. Nikolai Shmelyov, Either Force or the Rouble. Stanislav Menshikov, The Economic Structure of Socialism: What Lies Ahead? Geli Ryabov, How Many Faces Does Militia Have? Alexander Tsipko, The Sources of Stalinism. Criticism: Vadim Kozhinov, The Greatest Threat; Truth and No Lies. Classics: Nikolai Karamzin, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Mikhail Bulgakov and Nikolai Leskov. In different languages. Russian literature has played a major role in the development of the country's ethnic cultures. Chinghiz Aitmatov, the Avarian poet Rasul Gamzatov, and Mustai Karim from Bashkiria have often mentioned the positive influence Russian and Soviet classics have had on their own works, how they extended their horizons, promoted their artistic taste and helped them develop a sense of beauty. This is true of generations of Soviet writers of non-Russian nationalities. As time passed and ethnic literature developed, critics began writing about its impact on Russian literature. Russian writer Konstantin Simonov, for example, said that the wartime prose of Vasil Bykov from Byelorussia had a great influence on his own writings. The Byelorussian writers Ivan Melezh and Ivan Shamyakin introduced many exciting and unexpected elements into the so-called country prose created by the Russian writers Fyodor Abramov, Vasili Belov, Valentin Rasputin and Viktor Astafyev. Several years ago a collection of poems The Birds of Naukan by Zoya Nenlyumkina, a young Eskimo poetess, was published in Magadan in two languages-Russian and Eskimo. The book immediately drew the attention of poetry lovers. The poems were broadcast over the local radio for the Eskimos of Alaska and Greenland. Zoya Nenlyumkina's books were published in Danish and in the Eskimo dialect spoken in Greenland. It has always been an official policy in the USSR to bring the national cultures closer together. In this respect, Russian, the nationwide language of interethnic communication, has played a most invaluable role. "It is hard to imagine," the outstanding Georgian novelist Nodar Dumbadze once said, "how much poorer my life would be if the Russian language had not given me a chance to follow the creative endeavour of my colleagues, the Kazakh Ukrainian, Latvian and Estonian writers." The literary journal Druzhba Narodov (Peoples' Friendship) published in Russian in Moscow presents the best works by national writers to the general public. Mutual translations serve the same purpose. It is noteworthy that a growing number of ethnic writers consider themselves bilingual, which means they can write equally well in Russian and in their native language. Personal contacts among writers also play an important part in the development of ethnic literatures, resulting in mutual translations and often joint writing projects. For instance, the Russian novelist Daniil Granin and Ales Adamovich from Byelorussia wrote the documentary Blockade Book on the heroic defence of Leningrad. The essay Vertical Spoon about Tajikistan was written by two poets, Imants Ziedonis from Latvia and Vitali Korotich from the Ukraine, who is now Editor-in-Chief of the popular weekly magazine Ogonyok. Contests, Festivals, Auctions, Exhibitions In the country's cultural life colours have appeared which were not and could not have been possible some five years ago. It seems only yesterday that we were reading in our newspapers spiteful or, at best, mocking commentaries on certain events in the West which were here regarded as "vagaries" or "grimaces" of bourgeois culture. Beauty contests? Competitions between women for the name of Miss America... France... Italy... Australia.. Europe... Universe? Of course, people were all too well off if they could lash out fat prizes and squander money on such things which were meant exclusively for an elite, buying female beauty and humiliating the dignity of women by doing so... World auctions of works of art? This again was nothing more than a pastime for those with fat purses, for the chosen few and, moreover, the selling off of a nation's cultural heritage, if not of mankind itself, the pilfering of masterpieces by private collectors and private galleries. These were the sort of things the press was saying. This was the official point of view. But how about the "man in the street"? What was the attitude of the average person to beauty contests? What if he, the average person, might find it a pleasure to admire the beauty of young pearls of the fairer sex or to experience the atmosphere of a celebration of beauty and the perfection of female form? Or did he perhaps have no interest whatsoever in such things? This was something we did not know. Because, as the English say, in order to know if the pudding is any good, you first have to eat it. Nowadays we do know. We know that the same attitude to beauty contests cannot be shared by everyone and that the spectrum of opinion in society where such things are concerned stretches from unrestrained rapture to angry condemnation. This, in general, we have to expect, for no two people exist who are exactly identical, and, consequently, there is no absolute coincidence of opinions, that is, of course, if people express their opinions totally honestly. We also know that beauty festivals are accompanied not only by joy but by disappointments, that a negative side to them does exist. And this is also what life is all about. The auction in Moscow held by Sotheby's, we know, did not lead to the plundering of our museums, but, rather, proved to be to their benefit, for the money that was made went to improving the museums themselves. And so-contests, festivals, auctions and exhibitions, both traditional and completely new. BOOK PUBLISHING Although the USSR annually publishes almost 90,000 titles of books and booklets in total printings of 2,500 million copies, there are still not enough publications to meet the growing demand of the Soviet readership. Some 40 years ago the "book famine" could be explained by the growth of the nation's cultural level. Today book publishers say that book collecting has become very popular, complain that there is a paper shortage and list various shortcomings of the printing facilities. Meanwhile, lots of books are for sale, but not the ones people are interested in buying. Some say that the root of the problem is that authors are paid irrespective of sales, a system which, they believe, breeds parasites and second-rate writing. Mediocre authors, of course, are steadfastly against any changes in the existing order of things. Readers propose that experimental editions of 1,000 copies be printed and then reprinted only if the first batch is sold out. Another suggestion is that the author should pay for the publication of his works. The Union of Soviet Writers currently has a membership of 10,000. If authors take up the practice of printing books at their own expense, some of them may go broke, which would automatically and naturally reduce the size of the Union. Publishers see it as their primary task to provide every Soviet family with a private library, a minimum, which will contain national and world classics, reference books and encyclopedias. To this end, a three-volume edition of Alexander Pushkin in a printing of 11 million copies was made available to the general public on an unlimited subscription basis. Similarly, a two-volume edition of works by Vladimir Mayakovsky was put out in six million copies. Plans to put out editions in unlimited printings include works by Maxim Gorky, Mikhail Lermontov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev and other Russian classics, as well as some works by foreign writers. For several years running revised editions of a one-volume Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary have been annually published in printings of 3,250,000 copies. There are also mass publications of other books, such as Tales of the USSR Peoples, The Popular Encyclopedia of Medicine, A Concise Household Encyclopedia, etc. The year 1987 saw the publication of the first volumes of The Young Family Library. This edition will consists of 20 volumes. However, large editions of great literature and the classics in themselves cannot yield the necessary results if a shield is not put up to prevent the publishing of hackwork. With the introduction of full cost-accounting and self-financing in the publishing houses, a process that started in 1987, the release of mediocre literature has become a risky business. It is hoped that soon millions of readers will at long last be able to freely purchase the books they want and need. LIBRARIES There are 326,000 general-purpose, scientific, specialized, university and school libraries in the Soviet Union serving 234 million readers and numbering 5,600 million books and other publications. All libraries can be used free of charge. The Lenin State Library in Moscow contains one of the world's largest book collections. Its holdings number 36 million books and other publications and manuscripts in 247 languages, including 91 languages of Soviet nationalities. The library daily serves over 8,000 people. It carries on inter-library loan exchanges with libraries in 106 countries. The Lenin State Library has a department of rare and priceless books containing 330,000 manuscripts from India, Japan, China and other countries. The staff of the department is particularly proud of its West European and Russian incunabula from the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of these books are unique, such as the two-volume set of Cervantes' novelettes printed on corktree bark. There are also masterpieces of book printing in the department-old publications on bindings decorated with silver, precious stones and exquisite chasing, such as one of the two existing prayer books published in Antwerp in 1487. The Lenin Library has the priority right to acquire rare books from archives and museums. A special government decision obligates state-run second-hand bookshops to show all antiquarian books they acquire to the Library's experts. For instance, in the early 1980s, the Library purchased the first printed Russian book, The Apostle, published by Ivan Fyodorov in Moscow in 1564, from a second-hand bookshop. The Saltykov-Shchedrin Public Library in Leningrad is one of the country's major book depositories. Its collection numbers 25 million publications and manuscripts. The State Scientific and Technical Library in Moscow boasts a collection of eight million publications and caters to more than 300,000 users from the capital and other cities. This is one of the country's first libraries to introduce an information storage and retrieval system. It takes its electronic catalogue from three to five minutes to locate a request. All Soviet libraries subscribe to a unified system of inter-library loan, which makes the collections of all libraries available to readers everywhere. Every year, the collections in Soviet libraries as well as the numbers of readers using them, are growing. It means that space is a real problem since the reading premises were built or used as libraries many years ago. Each library has its own way of solving the problem. The Saltykov-Shchedrin Public Library, for instance, will soon expand into an additional building, while the Russian Federation State Library for Children has moved into a new building with 14 reading halls and playrooms. The facilities of libraries in general, however, still fall short of what they should be. Many of them are housed in poor and inadequate buildings, with not enough space for collections. The premises of some of the old libraries are dilapidated and poorly equipped with modern technical means. Other libraries have had fires, causing serious and sometimes irretrievable damage to the book fund. The Lenin Library is currently undergoing reconstruction. Over the next ten years it will be fully reequipped, all its reading halls will be renovated and an additional building will be constructed. Its reading premises, however, are remaining open to users during the process. Statistics show that there are about 34,000 large private libraries, containing around 40 thousand million books, which exceeds the total number of books in all state depositories sevenfold. The All-Union Society of Booklovers, with a membership of 17 million, in an effort to bring this cultural wealth within the reach of as many people as possible, has published an appeal in newspapers to the owners of private collections to make their reading funds available to the general public.