Soviet Culture and Power: A History in Documents, 1917–1953. Annals of Communism by K. Clark , E. Dobrenko , A. Artizov , O. Naumov (review)

Abstract

764 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO a milestone fortheRussianarmy'on thepathtorevolution' givenitsmassive casualtiesand contribution to the 'destruction of the "old Russian army"' (p. 176).Whilsthis own conclusions are onlyverybriefly presented at the veryend ofthebook,Dowlingdoes,however, offer a good overview ofthe conclusions ofotherauthors on thesignificance oftheoffensive. Dowling'sincorporation ofbiographical materialon Brusilovand indeed thetitling ofthebook withthesubsequent unofficial Russianname forthe offensive might be takenas indication thatTheBrusilov Offensive at leastdeals withtheRussianand Austro-Hungarian sidesequallyor perhapsfocuseson theRussianside. However,despitethepresenceof some Russian-language secondary sourcesand memoirs in thebibliography ofthisbook,theoperationalhistory that dominatesmuch of it is based primarily on Germanlanguagematerials from theAustrian StateArchive and theEnglish-language secondary literature. I wasa little surprised nottoseeanyreference torelevant articles from theRussian Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal forexample. Despite a slightly misleadingtitlegiven a source base heavilyskewed towardstheAustro-Hungarian side Dowlingoffers a usefuladditionto the literature on themilitary history oftheEasternFrontduring theFirstWorld War thatshouldproveofvalue not onlyto military historians but also to others interested infleshing outan often overlooked military historical context fortherevolutionary upheavalsof1917. Department ofHistory University ofCalgary Alexander Hill Clark,K., Dobrenko,E., Artizov, A. and Naumov,O. Soviet Culture andPower: A History inDocuments, igiy-igjj. AnnalsofCommunism. Yale University Press,New Haven, CT and London, 2007. xxx + 545 pp. Notes. Glossary. Listofdocuments. Index.£35.00. Yale UniversityPress's 'AnnalsofCommunism'serieshas takenthelead internationally in publishing collections oftranslated documents on topicsin revolutionary and Soviethistory. This book,whichis drawnfroma much largervolumeofdocuments compiledbyAndreiArtizov and Oleg Naumov (yiast' i khudozhestvennaia intelligentsiia: Dokument? TsK RKP(b)-VKP(b), VChKOGPU -NKVD 0 kuVturnoi politike, 19ly-1953gg.,Moscow, 1999), focuses on the relationship betweenSovietculture, especially literature, and theSovietstate. Presuming thatspecialists can consulttheoriginal Russianvolume,Katerina Clark and EvgenyDobrenkoframedthisvolumeto appeal to a broader readership ofnon-specialists and advancedstudents. Consequently, they chose documents thatillustrate Stalin'ssignificant roleinculture as wellas thosethat concernwell-known culturalevents,influential culturalbureaucrats,and prominent intellectuals (especiallyMaksim Gor'kii but also many others, including MikhailBulgakov,MikhailZoshchenko,MikhailSholokhovand Aleksandr Fadeev).Mostofthedocuments comefrom archival collections that remainclosedor highly restricted, and theyincludea widerangeofgenres: REVIEWS 765 decisions and discussions within keypolitical forums, including thePolitburo, the Secretariat and variousCentralCommitteedepartments; secretpolice reports on theattitudes and opinionsofSovietintellectuals, and petitions and letters sentto Stalinand otherleadersfromcultural figures and bureaucrats as well as Stalin'sresponses.The resultis a fascinating excursusintothe politics ofSovietculture. The volumeisdividedintothree chronological sections, eachprefaced with a usefulintroduction that outlinesthe key developments of the period: 'The Bolshevization ofCulture,1917-1932'; 'The CultureofHigh Stalinism, 19321941 ';and 'The CultureofLate Stalinism, 19411953 '.The twenty-four chapters, whichare largely thematic, are thencomposedoftranslated documentsinterspersed withcommentary to forma coherent narrative. The first sectionon the1920shas chapters designedto illuminate thedevelopment of politicalcontrols (e.g. materials on intellectuals' rightto travelabroad),the competingcurrentsand approaches among both intellectuals and party figures, the role of Gor'kii,and the culturalrevolution. The heartof the volume is its second sectionon High Stalinism, which includeschapters on suchwell-known topicsas the 1934Writers Congress,theanti-formalist campaigns, theMoscowArtTheatre,and theriseof(Russian)nationalism. Equallyinteresting arethechapters on particular genresofsources, including letters and petitions to Stalinas wellas NKVD reports on writers. The final section, whichis theleastsatisfying, includessubstantive chapters on thewar (focusing on theperiodafter 1943,whenstatecontrols werebeingtightened), thezhdanovshchina, and film (especially thecontroversy overEizenshtein's Ivan theTerrible). The book ends witha shortchapter(presenting two sources on 'anti-cosmopolitanism' - a letterto StalinfromMikhailRomm and a report byFadeev),whichis prefaced bya one-pageintroduction uncritically advancing NicholasTimashefFs notionofthe'GreatRetreat'as a paradigm forcultural development in the1930sand reaching itsapex withthevictory ofGreatRussiannationalism and xenophobiaafter theWar.Such a concludingassessment oversimplifies themultifaceted pictureoftheStalinist culture system provided bythevolumeas a whole. Scholarsinterested in particular writers or cultural figures willfindmuch ofinterest inthisvolume, foritfills inmanyblanksregarding their interaction withthecultural bureaucracy and political leaders.It thusrevealsan intricate tapestry of both resistance and collusion,independenceand servility, that undermines anysimplegeneralizations. Yet thevolumeis mostusefulin its illumination ofSovietcultureas an integral partofa complexculturaland political system. Key motifs running through thedocuments are thepowerof patronageand supplication, hierarchy and status,rewardand punishment, whichare all closelyintertwined withpersonalinterests and institutional developments, whetherthe practicesof censorship or the evolutionof the Writers' Union. Indeed,Stalin'shands-onrole as readerand criticis truly fascinating. Not onlywas he thesymbolic centreofthepoliticalsystem, he wasalso itsfunctional pivot, thesourceofauthority and an arbiter ofbureaucraticdecisions and individual fates alike.Nevertheless, thestory thatemerges islessthatStalin(ortheleadership) setpolicyand createda system from some 766 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO omnipotent, external position; insteadhe becomesan historical actor,shaped bythesystem overwhichhepresided. One minorcaveatshouldbe appended: theeditors excludedfromthiscollection thosedocuments and controversies inwhichStalin'srolewas minor, thereby increasing hisrelative prominence. In conclusion...