“On the Emergence of the ‘Literary Nest’ of Newspaper Zvezda”: A Local Newspaper in Perm Literary Life in the 1920s

Abstract

This article examines the circumstances behind the formation of regional literary life in the 1920s outside the organising system of the Russian association of proletarian writers with reference to the literary group in the Perm newspaper Zvezda . Works devoted to Russian literature almost completely neglect the role of pre-revolutionary legacy in the cultural life of Soviet Perm. Analysing the Perm situation, one can say that the role of local social and cultural factors in constructing and functioning of literary groups in the 1920s is very important. Studying resolutions of the Central Committee of the RCP(b), archival materials, memoirs, and newspaper publications, it is possible to provide a sociocultural description of the group “We”, to reveal the reasons for its establishment and disintegration and its role in organising the regional literary process. In Perm, the pre-revolutionary circle of talented young people played a pivotal role in the cultural and literary life of the city. The circle consisted of intelligentsia and educated workers. The young authors’ creative work reflected the zeitgeist. Their texts glorified world revolution, proletariat, machines, and Ural plants while rhythmically being reminiscent of Mayakovsky’s poetry. The participants of the circle constituted the core of the provincial newspaper Zvezda and united all the literary talents of the city around themselves as they organised literary soirees, attracted new authors, and published their works on the pages of the newspaper. In 1924, the literary management functions were transferred to Sverdlovsk and the most active members of the group were sent to other regions of the country. However, the Perm branch of the Russian association of proletarian writers did not work. At the same time, the newspaper Zvezda preserved literary traditions and it can be considered the centre of literary life in the vast Perm region until the time when the Union of Soviet Writers was established.