Academic analysis has not always kept pace with the dramatic changes that have occurred in the USSR since Stalin's time, for objective study has often been overshadowed-especially in the 1980s-by publicity concerning the negative aspects of the "Evil Empire." Recently, however, because of reforms initiated by Gorbachev, the dynamics of the Soviet system have come into sharper focus. This book provides a wide-ranging, detailed view of economic, social, ideological, and literary aspects of the Soviet system leading up to the Gorbachev era. The essays include both historical and contemporary perspectives on the sources of stability (and stagnation) in the post-Stalin years. Examining the intricate fabric of Soviet society, the contributors provide insights into the social and cultural motivations for Gorbachev's "restructuring" policies. Their themes echo the work of Vera S. Dunham, who for more than four decades has focused on diverse aspects of Soviet society and culture, particularly on the noncoercive means of social control that have often been overlooked but that are a vital component of the Soviet system.

Academic analysis has not always kept pace with the dramatic changes that have occurred in the USSR since Stalin's time, for objective study has often been overshadowed-especially in the 1980s-by publicity concerning the negative aspects of the "Evil Empire." Recently, however, because of reforms initiated by Gorbachev, the dynamics of the Soviet system have come into sharper focus. This book provides a wide-ranging, detailed view of economic, social, ideological, and literary aspects of the Soviet system leading up to the Gorbachev era. The essays include both historical and contemporary perspectives on the sources of stability (and stagnation) in the post-Stalin years. Examining the intricate fabric of Soviet society, the contributors provide insights into the social and cultural motivations for Gorbachev's "restructuring" policies. Their themes echo the work of Vera S. Dunham, who for more than four decades has focused on diverse aspects of Soviet society and culture, particularly on the noncoercive means of social control that have often been overlooked but that are a vital component of the Soviet system.

Introduction: Literature and the Political Problem

1. Since 1917: A Brief History Soviet Literature Persistence of the Past Fellow Travelers Proletarians The Stalinists Socialist Realism The Thaw The Sixties and Seventies

2. Mayakovsky and the Left Front of Art The Suicide Note "Vladimir Mayakovsky, A Tragedy" The Cloud "The Backbone Flute" The Commune and the Left Front "The Bedbug" and "The Bath" Mayakovsky as a Monument Poets of Different Camps

3. Prophets of a Brave New World The Machine and England Olesha's Critique of the Reason Envy and Rage

4. The Intellectuals, I Serapions Boris Pilnyak: Biology and History

5. The Intellectuals, II Isaac Babel: Horror in a Minor Key Konstantin Fedin: The Confrontation with Europe Leonov and Katayev Conclusion

6. The Proletarians, I The Proletcult The Blacksmith Poets Yury Libedinsky: Communists as Human Beings Tarasov-Rodionov: "Our Own Wives, Our Own Children" Dmitry Furmanov: An Earnest Commissar A. S. Serafimovich: A Popular Saga

7. The Proletarians, II Fyodor Gladkov: A Literary Autodidact Alexander Fadeyev: The Search for a New Leo Tolstoy Mikhail Sholokhov: The Don Cossacks A Scatter of Minor Deities Conclusion

8. The Critic Voronsky and the Pereval Group Criticism and the Study of Literature Voronsky Pereval

9. The Levers of Control under Stalin Resistance The Purge The Literary State

10. Zoshchenko and the Art of Satire

11. After Stalin: The First Two Thaws Pomerantsev, Panova, and "The Guests" Ilya Ehrenburg and Alexey Tolstoy The Second Thaw The Way of Pasternak

12. Into the Underground The Literary Parties The Trouble with "Gosizdat": End of a Thaw Buried Treasure: Platonov andBulgakov The Exodus into "Samizdat" and "Tamizdat": Sinyavsky

13. Solzhenitsyn and the Epic of the Camps "One Day" "The First Circle" and "The Cancer Ward" The Gulag "The Calf and the Oak: Dichtung and Wahrheit" Other Contributions to the Epic

14. The Surface Channel, I: The Village

15. The Surface Channel, II: Variety of Theme and Style The City: Intelligentsia, Women, Workers The Backwoods: Ethical Problems Other New Voices of the Sixties and Seventies World War II Published Poets A Final Word on Socialist Realism

16. Exiles, Early and Late The Exile Experience "Young Prose" and What Became of It Religious Quest: Maximov and Ternovsky Truth through Obscenity: Yuz Aleshkovsky Transcendence and Tragedy: Erofeev's Trip Poetry of the Daft: Sasha Sokolov Perversion of Logic as Ideology: Alexander Zinoviev A Gathering of Writers

Conclusion Notes Selected Bibliography Index