Lunacharsky and the formation of Marxist criticism

Foreword

A.V. Lunacharsky occupies a well-deserved place among the classics of Russian literary criticism and aesthetic thought. But unlike his predecessors, Lunacharsky received the broadest opportunities for implementing his aesthetic ideals throughout the country, liberated by the revolution from social oppression. For the first time in the history of Russia, questions of literature and art, education and culture were in charge of a European-educated thinker, critic, writer-playwright, a man of outstanding statesmanship, a communist who had gone through the Leninist school of revolutionary struggle, political emigration, experienced in tsarist prisons and exile.

A. V. Lunacharsky is one of the founders and most prominent representatives of Russian Marxist criticism. Everything done by him, his senior contemporary G. V. Plekhanov, his colleague V. V. Vorovsky, to establish Marxist views on literature is a great tradition of high principles, broad outlook, passionate interest in the affairs of art. The development of Marxist aesthetic views is not a simple path of ascent, but a complex movement along a spiral, where victory is sometimes replaced by defeat, and defeat leads to a new victory at a higher level.

The legacy of Lunacharsky is striking in its size. In the vast field of spiritual culture, which includes literature, art, philosophy, history, aesthetics, morality, atheism, pedagogy, etc., few people can be placed next to him. However, until recent years, we did not have exact data on the scope, breadth and boundaries of Lunacharsky's activity, we reasoned approximately. They relied on the testimonies of contemporaries and Lunacharsky himself, while both contemporaries and Lunacharsky himself sometimes did not remember all that they had done.

Lunacharsky least of all resembled an armchair scientist. Loaded to the limit with various work, from the beginning of his activity he acquired the habit of dictating his works, did not always read typewritten texts, checked quotations, dates, individual facts - hence the great difficulties facing his biographers, commentators, textual critics. In addition, for all his exceptional memory, Lunacharsky sometimes made mistakes in dating certain works, certain events in his life. Much of what Lunacharsky wrote (more often dictated or recorded by reporters) has been preserved on the pages of inaccessible and now forgotten newspapers and magazines, brochures and collections, in Soviet and foreign archives, and from private individuals. Only at the end of his life Lunacharsky decided to implement a collected works, but the matter did not move beyond the preparatory work.

Attempts to compile a list of Lunacharsky's works were made by bibliographers during the lifetime of Anatoly Vasilyevich. These studies intensified in the 1960s. The best thematic index, compiled by K. D. Muratova, covers the range of works related to literature and art. 1

The new bibliographic index prepared by the V. I. Lenin State Library of the USSR 2 aims to give the fullest possible idea of the publications of Lunacharsky's works and letters. It takes into account the works of Lunacharsky only in Russian, published before December 1973. Not included are publications in the languages of the peoples of the USSR, as well as publications abroad. The index lists Lunacharsky's books, pamphlets, leaflets, articles, reviews, essays, prefaces, obituaries, plays, stories, poems, essays, correspondence, reports, lectures, translations, speeches, interviews, books edited by him, presentations in alphabetical order by year. , information notes, etc. The result is an impressive figure - 4008 numbers.

The index eloquently shows the dynamics of Lunacharsky's literary-critical and socio-political activities. The name of Lunacharsky became known to the reading public after 1902. On the eve of the first Russian revolution, he outlined his political, aesthetic and philosophical views, published the first stories, plays, translations. In 1902, 11 works were published, in 1903 - 31, in 1901 - 42, in 1905 - 49, in 1906 - 47 ... And so every year dozens of times in numerous print media in Russia, as well as in foreign Russian newspapers and magazines, works of the most varied nature and content appeared. Indeed, "an extremely richly gifted nature." 3 That is how Lenin spoke of him to Gorky.

After the work on the index was completed, unknown works from the Lunacharsky archive were published. The largest publication of recent years is "Essays on the History of Russian Literature" (1970) - a course of lectures given to students of the Communist University. Ya. M. Sverdlov. Finally, there are, though not numerous, gaps in the index. 4 The task of publishing unknown, little-known or forgotten works by Lunacharsky continues to be very relevant.

It is clear that not everything in Lunacharsky's vast legacy is of equal value. However, no matter how we feel about one or another of Lunacharsky's works, they are all interesting and indicative of the epoch of preparing and carrying out the socialist revolution, the epoch of socialist construction. Everything in Lunacharsky's activity is interconnected and interdependent, because with all the breadth of interests, flight of fancy and romantic spirituality, ability to get carried away and captivate others, he was a practical person, a realistically thinking politician, a "revolutionary real businessman", 5 as Lunacharsky himself spoke of Saltykov-Shchedrin .

The study of Lunacharsky's legacy has gone through a difficult path. Critical responses prior to 1917 were few, mostly referring to the position he took in the philosophical discussion of 1908–1910. About the collection of comedies Ideas in Masks (1912), Lunacharsky wrote in 1923: “The fate of the book was strange: the publisher did not take any steps to familiarize the public with it. Almost no reviews about it appeared, meanwhile, there is no book for sale. 6 Lunacharsky could have said the same about most of his works written before the October Revolution.

V. P. Muromsky notes that in the 1920s, Soviet criticism "declared itself and realized itself as such, primarily in the works and speeches of Lunacharsky." 7 However, this now indisputable truth was not clear to everyone for a long time. Lunacharsky as a critic was perceived mainly in connection with the events of literary life (for example, Proletkult, the renewal of the theatrical repertoire, the problem of traditions and innovation, the image of a positive hero, etc.), on which discussions were held with his direct participation. At the same time, Lunacharsky both at home and abroad went through the most diverse range of assessments. He was recognized, he was admired, he was criticized, etc. There was everything except for the business understanding of his activities.

In December 1931, Lunacharsky, responding to critics who found in him "a non-Marxist and non-Leninist system of views on literature and art", proposed organizing a "special team" of competent persons, which "will give a complete clarification of the positive and negative aspects of my work, the opportunity for me to more or less exhaustively (as far as it will be in my power) to speak on this matter. 8 As we can see, "before the last turn" 9 Lunacharsky did not overestimate his thirty years of work in literature and criticism (rather, on the contrary), but, most importantly, considered it useful to discuss it extensively. However, no such discussion took place.

A. M. Gorky believed that a book about the life and work of Lunacharsky was needed, and that such a book could best be written by ... Lunacharsky himself. In the autumn of 1932, a correspondence took place between them on this matter. In his last letter to Lunacharsky, Gorky, drawing the outlines of this future book, wrote: “You have lived a hard but bright life, you have done a great job. For a long time, almost all your life, you walked shoulder to shoulder with Lenin and your most important, brightest comrades. You - as no one can do this - could give a brilliant portrait of A. A. Bogdanov. You own the word, like an artist of the word, when you want it ... Your book about your life is objectively needed. 10

Lunacharsky's “broadly taken memoirs,” if they were written, could be on a par with “The Past and Thoughts” and “The History of My Contemporary,” because their author was not inferior to Herzen and Korolenko in the richness of life impressions. His death in December 1933 prevented Lunacharsky from realizing this and many other plans.

The 1930s proved unfavorable for his legacy. The heartfelt articles by P. Lebedev-Polyansky, E. Knipovich, I. Sats, 11 A. Krivosheeva's Aesthetic Views of A. V. Lunacharsky (1939) did not change the state of affairs.

The scientific study of Lunacharsky's legacy began in the second half of the 1950s and early 1960s. A collection of his works, various thematic collections are published, unknown and forgotten works are searched for and published. At the same time, the memoirs of K. I. Chukovsky, A. I. Deich, N. A. Rozenel and other people who knew Lunacharsky close were written. These works once again demonstrated what inexhaustible treasures his unexamined heritage hides, what rich discoveries it promises to researchers of his work.

From now on, the name of Lunacharsky sounded in the literary discussions of the 60s as a weighty argument and took its rightful place in all reviews of the history of Soviet literature, literary criticism, criticism and journalism. Works about Lunacharsky the revolutionary, publicist, teacher, statesman, head of the People's Commissariat of Education, etc. appeared. .

A. A. Lebedev's book "The Aesthetic Views of A. V. Lunacharsky", which went through two editions (1962 and 1970), is, in essence, the first and in many ways successful attempt at a holistic and systematic presentation of the main issues of Lunacharsky's aesthetics. The shortcomings of the book, which are especially noticeable at the present time, include the incompleteness and selectivity of the material involved.

P. A. Bugaenko in the work “A. V. Lunacharsky and the Literary Movement of the 1920s” (1967) 12 explores the role of Lunacharsky in the literary process, his attitude to Proletkult, the work of A. M. Gorky, V. V. Mayakovsky and other writers. Bugaenko continues to fruitfully work on the study of various problems of literary and critical activity of Lunacharsky.

The book of N. A. Trifonov “A. V. Lunacharsky and Soviet Literature” (1974) is the result of the scientist’s many years of work in publishing, commenting, publishing and studying the works of Lunacharsky, throughout his life. Saturated with diverse material, it gives a portrait of Lunacharsky in the area where his diverse activities found their most complete expression. Books by P. A. Bugaenko and N. A. Trifonov were highly appreciated in the press.

In this brief review, the names of V. R. Shcherbina, who successfully developed the fundamental theme “Lenin and Lunacharsky,” and A. I. Ovcharenko, one of the leaders of Lunacharsky’s collected works, the author of an extensive preface to it, published as an editorial, should be mentioned. 13

In the 60s and 70s, many works appeared that were very valuable in factual material, subtle observations, and fundamental conclusions. Their authors are I. L. Antropyansky, I. Z. Baskevich, L. A. Belaya, A. F. Ermakov, V. V. Efimov, A. S. Malinin, N. A. Samoilova and others.

Lunacharsky's plays about theater and dramaturgy are the subject of research by M. D. Bocharov, Yu. A. Golovashchenko, A. I. Deich, S. A. Lysenko, and others; Leizerova, I. Mats, P. Malysheva and others.

A review of everything written about Lunacharsky could be continued, but this is already the subject of an independent historiographic study. 14 It is gratifying to note that the “geography” of research has expanded: Saratov and Gorky, Kiev and Kharkov, Minsk and Lvov, Przhevalsk and Chisinau.

The name of Lunacharsky is found in monographs that develop the general problems of Russian, Soviet and foreign literature, the role of V. I. Lenin in the development of Soviet culture, the aesthetics of G. V. Plekhanov, the work of individual writers, etc. Let us name only some books of recent years: Yu A. Andreev "Revolution and Literature" (1975), V. I. Borshchukov "History of Literature and Modernity" (1972), A. A. Volkov "A. M. Gorky and the literary movement of the Soviet era” (1971), A. G. Dementiev “V. I. Lenin and Soviet literature” (1977), A. N. Iezuitov “Socialist realism in theoretical coverage” (1975), A. I. Metchenko “Blood, conquered” (1971), S. M. Petrov “Basic questions of theory realism" (1975).

Despite the abundance of works, the legacy, life and work of Lunacharsky have been studied unevenly. Scientists were mainly interested in Lunacharsky during the Soviet years and, to a lesser extent, in his pre-revolutionary searches. The importance of studying the pre-October years of Lunacharsky's life and activity was not denied by anyone. Many of the authors named here (especially N. A. Trifonov, A. A. Lebedev, V. R. Shcherbina) dealt with them with more or less thoroughness, but only insofar as it is necessary for the study of the mature Lunacharsky. Meanwhile, the pre-revolutionary years in the life and work of Lunacharsky have an independent significance, and therefore deserve a separate study. The pre-revolutionary works of Lunacharsky reflected the search for the advanced Russian intelligentsia, which, together with the whole people, suffered Marxism. So it won't be a big exaggeration. if we say that to understand Lunacharsky means to understand Russian social thought at the beginning of the 20th century in its essential moments. In this sense, one can speak of the typicality of his fate and the instructiveness of his creative path.

Our knowledge of Lunacharsky's life contains many factual errors, blank spots, and confusion. From the foregoing, the conclusion follows that it is necessary to unite the efforts of Soviet scientists in order to create a truly scientific biography of A. V. Lunacharsky. This is one of the urgent and complex tasks of Soviet literary criticism.

We will try to give a periodization of the pre-October life and activities of Lunacharsky. In the works of Soviet literary critics, due attention was not paid to this. Meanwhile, the importance of identifying the main milestones in the spiritual quest and in the political biography of Lunacharsky is obvious. In our opinion, four such stages can be distinguished: Russian - 1902-1907; Italian - 1907-1911; French - 1911-1914; years of the First World War - 1914-1917 (France, Italy, Switzerland).

These definitions are conditional, since in the first period Lunacharsky lived not only in Russia, but partly in France, Italy and Switzerland, and in 1911-1914 he made short trips to Switzerland and Germany. The dates also should not be considered chronologically absolutely accurate, but with a certain relativity they help to understand the continuity and change of ideas in the complex and contradictory spiritual evolution of Lunacharsky.

In this regard, it seems to us that the periodization proposed by E. Kopferman, the author of the preface to the collection of articles by Lunacharsky on theater and drama, published in Paris, seems erroneous. E. Kopferman combines the second and third periods “from 1907 to 1914”, 15 which is basically wrong. Moving to Paris was not a simple biographical fact, but a certain milestone in the spiritual development of Lunacharsky, which cannot be ignored.

All this explains the chronological framework of this work, its tasks: a) to determine the patterns of the emergence of Marxist literary and artistic criticism in Russia and its originality; b) reveal the influence of Lenin's ideas on the formation of Lunacharsky's worldview; c) to show Lunacharsky's relationship with literary critics of his contemporaries, primarily with G. V. Plekhanov; e) to give an idea of the evolution of Lunacharsky as a theoretician and literary critic.

Bearing in mind the absence of a scientific biography, annals, or even a chronicle of Lunacharsky's life (as, indeed, of other Marxist critics), we simultaneously sought to identify milestones in his spiritual evolution, to clarify some facts.

The author has been working on studying the legacy of Lunacharsky for many years - the first article in the journal Sever (1965, No. 6). Since then, articles and reviews have been published in the journals Novy Mir, Voprosy Literature, Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, OLYA, Sever, Literary Heritage and various philological collections of Leningrad, Petrozavodsk, Minsk, Vologda, directly related to the topic of the proposed work. In 1972, the book "Features of a Portrait" was published, dedicated to the little-studied pages of Lunacharsky's life and work. To avoid repetition, we have excluded pages on the "foundations of positive aesthetics" and the dramatic works of the young Lunacharsky - the reader will find them in the "Features of a Portrait".

In working on the book, the author used various sources: the latest editions of Lunacharsky, lifetime collections, Russian and foreign periodicals, Bolshevik and progressive press, materials from the archives of Moscow, Vologda, Totma, as well as libraries in France (Paris, Nanterre).

A. V. Lunacharsky on literature and art. Bibliographic index. 1902–1963 Comp. K. D. Muratova. L., 1964. ↩
Anatoly Vasilievich Lunacharsky. Index of works, letters and literature about life and work, v. 1. Proceedings of A. V. Lunacharsky. M., 1975. The second volume, including Lunacharsky's letters and literature about his life and work, was published in 1979. ↩
Gorky M. Sobr. soch., vol. 17. M., 1952, p. 21._
See our article “Lunacharsky continues” (“Questions of Literature”, (977, No. 6, pp. 253–255) and V. V. Bazanov’s article “Bibliography on Soviet Literature” (“Russian Literature”, 1978, No. 1, pp. 211–216) .↩
Literary heritage, vol. 11–12, half volume 1. M., 1933, p. 184._
Lunacharsky A. V. Dramatic works, vol. 2. M., 1923, p. 15._
Muromsky V.P. On the construction of a course in the history of Soviet literary criticism. - "Russian Literature", 1977, No. 1, p. 82._
Literary heritage, vol. 82. M., 1970, p. 577. ↩
The last pseudonym of Lunacharsky A. D. Tur. Educated from fr. avant dernier tour - before the last turn (of life). ↩
Archive of A. M. Gorky, vol. 14. M., 1976, p. 122._
Lebedev–Polyansky P. In memory of Academician Lunacharsky. - "Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Olya", 1934, vol. 5, no. 2; Knipovich E. Lunacharsky - literary critic. - "Fiction", 1934, No. 1; Sats I. Lunacharsky is an art critic. - "Literary Critic", 1939, No. 5-6. ↩
In 1972, the second, supplemented edition of this book was published under the title “A. V. Lunacharsky and Soviet Literary Criticism. ↩
Introductory article by V. R. Shcherbina to the book. "Literary heritage" (vol. 80. M., 1971); Ovcharenko A. I. Our Lunacharsky. M., 1976. Article by A. I. Ovcharenko, published as an editorial preface to the 1st volume, as well as articles by N. A. Glagolev, N. A. Trifonov, A. I. Deich, R. M. Samarin, published as an afterword to the 2nd, 3rd and 5th volumes of the collected works of Lunacharsky, together with the memoirs of N.K. Krupskaya, M.E. Koltsov, L.V. Nikulin, V.P. Shulgin and K.I. About Lunacharsky. Research. Memories ”(M., 1976). ↩
See, for example, the chapter "Lunacharsky the critic in the assessments of contemporaries and descendants" in the book: Bugaenko P.A.V. Lunacharsky and Soviet literary criticism. Saratov, 1972, p. 21–57. ↩
Lounatcharsky A. V. Theater et revolution, Paris, 1971, p. 10._