SOVIET LITERATURE
101
ever conformist the author tries to be, the "shining heights of com–
munism" are gradually being overcast by a haze.
Since the counterattack against "revisionism" in 1956 the
party's policy in literature has been to suppress overt challenges to
its authority while encouraging the writers to give a more balanced
and truthful picture of life. They have been asked to write on con–
temporary themes with greater plausibility and artistic skill. Since
perfection is always unconvincing, positive heroes may be endowed
with human weakness and the difficulties and hardships of the
transitional stage between socialism and communism may be frank–
ly exposed. These concessions to greater realism have, if anything,
made the writers' educational task more difficult. Virtue is tedious
and Soviet readers are not exceptional in being far more interested
in vice.
A Grounded Literature
The official speeches at the Third Congress of Soviet Writers,
which was finally held last May after two unexplained postpone–
ments, show little evidence of concern at the obvious inadequacy of
this modification of literary formula. In its formal address to the
Congress, the Central Committee told the writers that their "high
calling" is "to show truthfully and vividly the beauty of the people's
labor exploits . .. to be passionate propagandists of the Seven-Year–
Plan and to imbue the hearts of Soviet people with courage and
energy." They are to do this by "giving every support to realist art
which is opposed to formalist} idea-less art."
The monumentally tedious speech delivered by Andrei Surkov,
outgoing head of the Writers' Union, spells out these two incongru–
ous demands at inordinate length. But there are passages which
suggest that he is aware of the contradiction between them no less
than the author of the
Esprit
article. Speaking of the poverty of
language in many recent Soviet works he observes that "content
that has not found the right form cannot influence the minds and
hearts of the readers." He virtually admits the incompatibility of
realism and the portrayal of romantic, inspiring heroes when he
says:
