Soviet literature or Soviet literature produced after the October Revolution is multi-ethnic literature. According to the statistics of 1968, the literature of the Soviet Union contains literature of various nationalities written in 72 national languages, among which literature written by 42 nationalities was produced after the creation of their own national languages after the October Revolution.
Editor of the October Revolution
Before the October Revolution, the social, cultural and historical development of various ethnic groups in tsarist Russia was very uneven, and the structures and forms of various ethnic groups' cultures were also varied and different. According to the analysis of Soviet literary historians, by the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, on the eve of the October Revolution, the cultures of all ethnic groups in Russia can be roughly divided into the following three types according to their social, ideological and artistic development and the process of world historical development:
(1) Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Georgian, Armenian and other national literature. These ethnic groups are in the historical class of capitalist society with different degrees of feudal remnants in social nature. They are the most developed in art, but they are diverse in creative ideas, artistic styles and forms. Russian literature, in particular, had gained world reputation by the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, and its aesthetic thought reached the peak of European bourgeois aesthetic thought. At the beginning of the 20th century, with the introduction of Marxism into Russia and its combination with the Russian workers' movement, proletarian literature represented by Gorky came into being. The advanced literature of Russian nationality has produced many good influences on the literature of other Russian nationalities. Other nationalities, such as Ukraine, Georgia, Latvia, Estonia, etc. Before the October Revolution, China also produced literary works with considerable ideological and artistic level, and many famous classical writers and excellent works of our country appeared.
(2) The literature of many nationalities in the eastern part of Tsarist Russia, the North Caucasus and the Volga River basin. On the eve of the October Revolution, these ethnic groups were in various special historical conditions in social nature: social life in the Middle Ages, divorced from modern civilization, oppressed by the exploiting classes and feudal bureaucrats in Russia and China, and striving to maintain their "backward and uncivilized state" and so on. All this will inevitably hinder the cultural development of ethnic minorities in these areas. From the end of 19, especially under the influence of 1905 ~ 1907 revolution, these ethnic groups experienced the climax of national liberation movement and social awakening. Ethnic groups in eastern Russia, such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Oseidin, Chuvash, Komi, Yakutia, etc. In the process of awakening, a democratic culture of national enlightenment has emerged, and a number of outstanding writers, critics and scholars have emerged.
(3) Before the October Revolution, some ethnic groups were dominated by patriarchal clan system in social nature. In fact, these ethnic groups do not have their own scripts, such as Kyrgyzstan and some ethnic groups in the North Caucasus, Siberia, the Far North and the Far East. The characters of these nationalities were gradually created in the 1920s and 1930s after the October Revolution. Before the October Revolution, some of these ethnic groups were on the verge of extinction due to particularly backward historical conditions, cruel ethnic oppression in Russia and poor geographical and material conditions. Among these ethnic groups, only a few people have the conditions to use the scripts of other ethnic groups that are close to them, are related by blood and can be understood by them, and some people have the opportunity to study in religious schools, so they have received some education. However, the main source of their own cultural development is rich and colorful folk literature with their own national characteristics, some of which have been included in world literary masterpieces.
3 early editing
The victory of the October Revolution is the initial stage of the formation of Soviet literature. The differences in the original social nature and cultural structure of the above-mentioned ethnic groups are naturally reflected in literature and art ... Not only among the above-mentioned different types of ethnic groups, but also within the same type itself, there are also imbalances and different differences.
Cultural and literary development of various nationalities in the Soviet Union from the October Revolution to the early 1920s. After the victory of the October Revolution, the Soviet Party and the Soviet regime immediately promulgated a series of decisions on the socialist cultural revolution and adopted various necessary measures, such as fostering and developing the culture and art of all ethnic groups and vigorously supporting the proletarian revolution and the development of progressive literature.
After the October Revolution, a multi-ethnic team of Soviet writers began to form. First of all, Gorky, Serafimovic, Upit, Akop Yang, Luna Tsarski, Wolowski, Shaumyan and other writers who were associated with the revolutionary movement or participated in the revolutionary struggle in the Russian era. Some of them engaged in literary creation, and some made use of political works and literary criticism activities, which played a great role in socialist literary creation. Secondly, after the October Revolution, a group of talented young writers emerged among workers, peasants, labor intellectuals and Red Army soldiers returning from the front line of the civil war because they were "mobilized and called by the revolution". Then there are some writers who once had democratic thoughts or tendencies of national liberation. These writers are in a complicated situation. They overcame all kinds of complicated and incorrect ideologies and stood on the side of the revolution and Soviet regime. Soviet literature was created and established by such writers of various nationalities.
From the early days after the October Revolution to the early 1920s, mass amateur literary creation activities were first carried out in various parts of the Soviet Union. In the cultural activities of the above two ethnic groups, the creation of folk oral literature is very popular, especially among Kyrgyz, Turkmen and other ethnic groups, excellent Soviet folk poets appeared at the earliest, and they became the spokesmen of their working people praising the October Revolution.
In the early days of Soviet regime, the distinctive feature of literature of various nationalities was romanticism of different styles. This is particularly prominent in the poetry creation in the early 1920s. These different styles are not only expressed between different nationalities, but also within the same national literature. At that time, revolutionary carols, hymns, marches and poems inspired by political views were all the rage. They cheered the collapse of the old world and the birth of the new world with abundant revolutionary passion and images summarized by romantic symbols, and praised the victory of the uprising people and their break with the old world. These are completely novel poems, which fully show the revolutionary reality and historical authenticity, and at the same time, they can feel the traditional influence of workers' songs such as Internationale and Workers' Marseillaise. The great turmoil of the real revolution led to the appearance of long lyric poems, the central theme of which was the image of the uprising people (Twelve by Brock, One Hundred and Fifty Million by Mayakovski, The Whole Poem by Chalenz, etc.). In many short poems, there are symbolic images such as the revolutionary storm, the fire of the world, the future sunrise, the "red horse" of Mercedes-Benz, the iron plow of cultivated land, and the revolutionary corps flying with red flags. At that time, poems and songs praising Lenin were particularly popular.
Fiction is a literary genre used by many ethnic groups such as Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, and some ethnic groups with relatively backward cultures have begun to try to create works of this genre. Romantic symbols, passionate ode-like passion, tragic lyricism and straightforward political propaganda are also very popular in prose works and script creation in the early days after the October Revolution. In the early 1920s, close-ups and short stories with naturalistic disadvantages and detailed descriptions of reality began to appear. There are also some works that still use a general romantic style and a hypothetical "structured" form to reflect reality in the handling of themes. But at that time, many writers have tried to explore ways to combine romantic passion with real detail description. In particular, Serafimovic's Liu Tie and Furmanov's Chabaev created some revolutionary realistic works, which created vivid images of revolutionary heroes and set an example for Soviet socialist literature. The same is true of poetry creation. The so-called "cosmic" and abstract romantic style of the "proletarian cultural school" prevailing in the early days of the revolution gradually disappeared, and it was replaced by poems reflecting real life, using the unique traditions of all ethnic groups as much as possible in form. In the East, Transcaucasia, Volga River Basin and Type I ethnic groups, some poems are masterpieces close to the tradition of folk literature. In the early days after the October Revolution, revolutionary romanticism in Soviet literature established its position as an important part of socialist realism.
4 development editor
In the late 1920s, the new domestic situation and social life in the Soviet Union prompted great changes in literature. The literary creation of all ethnic groups has changed from the abstract symbolism of art to the shaping of specific characters with social significance, from the ruthless exposure of the old world to the objective analysis and criticism of the intertwined legacy of the old world and the new life phenomenon. Since the mid-1920s, there has been an upsurge of creating large-scale prose novels in the literature of many nationalities. In some ethnic groups that lack the tradition of prose creation, they also began to create close-ups, short stories and novels. Due to the different social and historical processes and social life conditions of various ethnic groups, their prose creation also has a specific theme. For example, writers from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and other nationalities described the ideological evolution and mental rearmament of the old democratic intellectuals before the revolution. Prose writers of various nationalities in Central Asia, Caucasus, North Caucasus and Volga River Basin have raised the issue of women's spiritual liberation in their works, with dozens of themes. Prose works of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and other nationalities pay more attention to land ownership; In many works about family problems in Georgian literature, the spiritual emptiness of the representatives of the landlord class who are incompatible with the new life is shown; There are also some national novels that discuss profound moral and philosophical issues. One of the most important traditions of multi-ethnic literature in the Soviet Union is created in the prose works of different nationalities based on different living materials: it truly shows the struggle of the revolutionary people and the new generation in the revolution, such as Fadev's Destruction, Gratkov's Cement, Golovco's Brilliance, Cherny's Land and Ibragimov's Deep Roots.
During the same period, a number of historical novels and epic novels appeared, some of which were based on the social history of the Russian era, such as the works of Fausch, Shapkin, Genyanov, Lordkipanidze and Byadulya. Some describe the arduous and complicated struggle between the October Revolution and the Civil War, such as sholokhov's Silent Don River, Tolstoy's first two trilogy The Course of Suffering, and yakubu Coles's trilogy The Crossroads, among which Gorky's novels are of great significance: Autobiographical Trilogy, Artamonov's Career and The Life of Kerim Samgin. These royal masterpieces truly reflect the social life and people's struggles in different times with different historical views and different characteristics.
In the 1920s, the theme of drama creation was the noble moral thoughts of people who became revolutionaries after understanding the revolutionary truth, such as Ivanov's Armored Train 14-69, Triniyev's Lyubov Jarovaya, and the dramas of F. Kirsson, M. coolidge, I. Mikichenko, Zabari and Ha hamzah. These plays mark a new stage of multi-ethnic Soviet drama.
Historical epic elements have also flourished in poetry, the most famous of which are Mayakovski's long poems Lenin and Good! In addition, long epics with unique plot style and lyrical structure are also emerging one after another, such as Russian poets Bagritski, Azeyev, Ye Saining, Shervinsky and so on. Belarusian poets such as Yanka Kupala and yakubu Colas. Kazakh poets, such as Sa Shevlim and Yi Dzhansugurov. Lyrics describing the people and the revolution are also very active.
At the same time, the very popular themes in satirical works of different ethnic groups are to laugh at the old bourgeois world, criticize the remnants of the old times in social life and people's consciousness, and oppose the bad habits, corruption and bureaucracy of ordinary citizens, such as the poems of Mayakovski, A. Faiko, Kang Krapiva and De Chemir Qiyang. Satire novels by Zuo, Irif, Petrov and Vishnu. In the close-ups and novels of various nationalities in the East, Siberia, Caucasus and Volga River valley, criticizing the old way of life, attacking the anti-human moral tradition and breaking religious superstitions have become one of the main themes.
From the October Revolution to the ideological struggle in the Soviet literary world in the early 1930s, from the October Revolution to the formation of multi-ethnic Soviet literature in the 1920s, literary creation flourished and literary thoughts were very active. At the same time, artistic views were very inconsistent and ideological struggle was fierce. This is first manifested in the rise of various literary schools and the emergence of various literary groups and groups. These schools and groups have published declarations and programs and put forward various literary ideas; Moreover, there are also differences of opinion within various schools and groups, which have caused persistent and fierce debates, many of which involve some important issues in creation and theory, and have played a positive role in exploring the development path of Soviet literature. At the same time, these arguments often represent the interests of different social classes, show some political and ideological divisions in the intellectual community, and reflect the class struggle of the Soviet Union at that time to some extent.
Among the literary schools and groups at that time, some emphasized the so-called "independence" and "freedom" art, but ignored politics and thoughts, such as Russian Imagist, Serrapi Weng Brothers, Ukrainian Neoclassicism, Proletarian Liberal Academics, Georgian Academics, Armenian Literature Society of Armenia, etc. Some groups, such as the Chagatai Forum in Uzbekistan and the Arka Group in Kazakhstan, advocate non-political aesthetics and praise the "greatness" of their past times and the "pure beauty" of ancient languages and poetic forms. Some ideas of these schools and groups are often used by some nationalists. There are also some groups that show "left" artistic views and formalism "innovation", that is, futurism and constructivism. This is mainly in Russia, but also in national literature, such as Ukraine, Armenia and Tatar.
The literary groups with great influence in the formation of Soviet literature are: proletarian cultural associations in the early October Revolution and Civil War, the "post-"school in the early 1920s, also known as the early "Lapp" school; The League of Russian Proletarian Writers in the late 1920s. In addition, there are peasant writers' associations, young writers' associations and other organizations. The party has done a lot of political and ideological work in leading literary and artistic work. Lenin's speech, the resolutions of the party's previous congresses and meetings, and the resolutions on propaganda and agitation and the publication of newspapers and periodicals all reflect this.
From the formation of multi-ethnic Soviet literature in the early 1930s to the early 1930s, industrialization and agricultural socialist transformation flourished, and literature also entered a new historical stage. During this period, on the one hand, the literature of various nationalities continued to maintain and carry forward their own national traditions and artistic characteristics, on the other hand, the same-sex characteristics between them became more and more obvious, and the original differences in thought and art between the above-mentioned different national literatures gradually decreased, but they became closer and more similar. The literature of all ethnic groups is more closely linked, such as the communication between writers of all ethnic groups and the translation and introduction of literary works of all ethnic groups. Great changes have also taken place in the ranks of national literature writers. Most of them gradually overcame their original weaknesses and mistakes, actively participated in the literary creation activities of the Soviet Union, and some even made innovations in art. As for the so-called "fellow travelers" writers, great changes have also taken place. They have made new progress in thought and art and become an important force in the ranks of Soviet writers.
1the first congress of Soviet writers held in April 1934 was an epoch-making symbol in the history of the development of multi-ethnic Soviet literature. From the early 1930s to the eve of the Congress, the Soviet literary world conducted extensive and in-depth discussions on some basic issues of literary creation and theory, and basically reached a consensus on the development direction and road of multi-ethnic Soviet literature at the Congress. Therefore, the Soviet literary and art circles generally believe that by the mid-1930s, as Gorky said in his opening speech at the Writers' Congress, "the literature of all our nationalities and races has emerged as a unified whole".