Yevgeny Evtushenko’s Poem “Where’s the Plot?” of 1952: Historical Context and Propagandistic Aim

Abstract

The researchers focus on the historical background to E. Evtushenko’s poem “Where’s the plot?” and regard the text as a sort of political declamation caused by the arrest of two famous French communists — André Stil and Jacques Duclos — in May 1952. It is also that the propagandistic target of the poem was to discredit the French Government and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, general M. Ridgway, who was visiting Paris in May 1952. Another political aim was to make it evident for Soviet readers that the communist movement is much more powerful than estimated by its opponents.