PA~TISAN
REVIEW
who died young. He had impressed them with the motto: "To the
West," since he was convinced that the Soviet writers must draw in–
spiration from Western models. Although they were not party mem–
bers, they stood fully on the side of the Soviet regime. Their adver–
saries-the proponents of "proletarian culture"-failed and were
finally (1932) disavowed by the Government.
In the meantime, the Serapion Brethren had dissolved as a
group, each of them going his own way. One may say, though, that
they retained one thing in common-a certain broadmindedness, an
avoidance of the provincialism of most other writers. It
is
true that
Western influence on them gradually diminished, and finally almost
ceased to exist. However, if the Serapion Brethren are attacked
today as a group and as individuals, the main reason is the fact that
the patriotic ideology of today demands a complete return to Russian
literature, which is now to be considered the greatest in the world.
However, several younger writers have been attacked as "West–
erners." "A number of works have been published, whose spirit was
that of cringing before everything foreign"
(Literaturnaya Gazetta,
3.9.46) .... This is aimed at certain war correspondents (Slavin,
Agapov, etc.) who went to Germany and Austria in 1945-46, where
they were astonished to find that reality was different from what they
had been taught in Russia. Above all, they were impressed by the
general cultural level in Central Europe, and of course these feelings
were voiced in their reports.
The accusation of Westernism was also leveled against Soviet
dramatists and producers. The May issue of
The Bolshevik
had already
stated: "The enthusiasm shown for foreign authors in our theaters
cannot be considered as normal. These plays have no artistic value
and are alien to the spirit of the Soviet public. The taste of the Soviet
public is ambitious and not everything that is popular abroad will
appeal to the Soviet theater-goer." We believe that this "enthu–
siasm" can easily be explained (the chief attractions were Maugham,
Swinnerton, and the old Eugene Sue) . Soviet dramatic production
has sunk to so low a level during the past few years that recourse had
to be taken to fgreign playwrights if the theaters were to stay open
at all. However, another reason was that the plays of these bourgeois
authors were, after all, not so "alien" to the theater-going public as
has been claimed. Perhaps the demands and taste of the Soviet
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