Des communautés artistiques de la période prérévolutionnaire au « kollektiv » durant les années 1920 : les avatars de l'Homme nouveau au théâtre

At the beginning of the 20th century, some theatrical Utopias tell in advance the coming of a New Man on stage. Theatre appears then as the locus where this inner transformation of man will occur insofar as the country is literally struck by a «thea- tromania» that will improve after the revolution. These theatrical Utopias rest upon two core notions : community (obscina, sobornaja obscina) and life consruction (ziznestroenie), the former being supported by V. Ivanov, the latter by N. Evreïnov. However distinct they may be, these Utopias share a common feature : art stops being an end in itself and becomes a means for transforming life. After 1917, they will go on influencing Soviet theatre through three channels : the ideas of the Proletkult, particularly those of Kerzencev, the cultural action of the Party through Lunacarsky and the avant-garde constructivist theories. Either before or after the Revolution, theatre in Russia aims at permeating the whole of life in a movement that revolves around the notion of community because it is the collective experience that forms the backbone of this genuine pan-theatricalism. If, after 1917, the expression kollektiv replaces obscina, it is because the factory has become the model of the ideal community in a country on its way to industrialization.Kempf Lucie. Des communautés artistiques de la période prérévolutionnaire au « kollektiv » durant les années 1920 : les avatars de l'Homme nouveau au théâtre. In: Revue Russe n°39, 2012. La Fabrique du ‘soviétique’ dans les arts et la culture.Construire/Déconstruire l’homme nouveau (avant 1953) pp. 81-90