Les articles de Gorki dans la formation des jeunes écrivains soviétiques au tournant des années trente

Gorky believed that Soviet literature was inadequately performing the role the Revolution had assigned it. It was not participating actively enough in the « construction » of socialism. Indeed, it was not reflecting (or rather, not reflecting very well) the « material » (i.e. the socialist society that the revolutionary proletariat was in the process of creating). The reasons for this collective failure were primarily writers' ignorance, and their poor knowledge of Russian. The standard of literary language must be maintained, and popular expressions must be selected judiciously. Reflecting reality is a specific kind of task, distinct from ideology. Literature was also threatened by a certain petty bourgeois mentality, and by a selfish individualism and a harmful attachment to the past, which prevented writers from seeing the achievements of socialism. This damning diagnosis, and this defence of literature against interference by the political authorities, were themselves expressed in the extremist and simplistic discourse of political slogans.Rolet Serge. Les articles de Gorki dans la formation des jeunes écrivains soviétiques au tournant des années trente. In: Revue Russe n°39, 2012. La Fabrique du ‘soviétique’ dans les arts et la culture.Construire/Déconstruire l’homme nouveau (avant 1953) pp. 105-116