The Oak and the Calf by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the Context of Ethical Quest of the Soviet Intel­ligentsia of the 1960s–1970s

Abstract

This article considers interpretations of ethical issues by representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia with reference to A. Solzhenitsyn’s The Oak and the Calf . The author argues that in the 1960s, Soviet scholars emphasised the universal character of morality, comprehending the problem of correlation of universal and class values in social practice. Ethical concepts were prescriptive and characterised by moral rigorism. Moral rigorism was also a feature of consciousness of the creative intelligentsia who traditionally perceived themselves and social processes through ethical categories. The intelligentsia were convinced of the educational mission of the community, which imposed a certain moral obligation. An intellectual had to set a behavioural pattern for society and serve noble ideals. Solzhenitsyn’s behaviour was perceived as exemplary by nonconformists. He demonstrated a focus on universal values and proclaimed the truth, conscience, and responsibility of a writer to the people the main ethical criteria. The analysis of The Oak and the Calf demonstrates that for Solzhenitsyn, ethics had instrumental value in his ideological struggle with the state. Speaking of his relationship with Tvardovsky and the editorial board of the Novyi Mir magazine, the writer deviated from the truth for the sake of ideology. He sought to prove that cooperation with the state destroyed the individual. This happened to Tvardovsky who compromised with his conscience. An honest man must fight with the state. The author is committed to the position of moral rigorism considering oppositional behaviour the only valuable form of behaviour from the moral point of view. This position was typical of Soviet dissidents of the 1960s–1970s.