256
VASIL'
IYKOV
years in succession not one book has appeared which deserves the award
of a state prize? And why are the prizes for non-Russian literature held,
to
put it mildly,
in
such low esteem that even when they are awarded
they languish in oblivion for months on end and nothing is heard of
who has won them or of when the awards are to be made?
Compared with the economic and technological achievements which
are spreading the fame of our country throughout the world, it is quite
obvious that our literature is in a state of crisis. Well may people won–
der why it is that so much is talked about literature, so much concern
shown for it, so much careful guidance lavished on it. Why,
in
that
case, is the infant so puny?
I believe that the cause of this evident decline is to be found
in
the very place where the progress of our literature was planned. Some–
thing very simple has happened: where literature is concerned, some–
how or other all sense of proportion has been lost and literature
bas
been done to death by an excess of guidance and tutelage.
(Applause)
Whilst our economy has passed beyond the phase of "voluntarism,"}
it must
be
frankly stated that it flourishes in literature to this day.
Literature is far more of a "command economy" than the economy
itself. Our economic life
is
evolving toward relationships that are in–
creasingly more functional and sensible, yet literature has remained
in
the state that agriculture was in until recently
(applause):
anyone con–
cerned with it was only too ready to charge in with some harebrained
scheme and interfere with what in any case is not the world's most
productive patch of land.
2
Those who do not realize that art and literature are governed by
certain laws which cannot be arbitrarily tampered with or misdirected
are very, very much in error. Unfortunately - or rather, fortunately–
such laws exist. What is more, like all just laws they are inexorable and
visit severe retribution on those who infringe upon them.
But for the artist the most grievous paradox lies in the fact that
the laws of art frequently do not conform to the laws which govern
society at any given stage. Indeed, they are almost always in opposition.
In life, the ideal society is one in which there is a minimum of conflict,
whereas
art
demands the reverse. In life, the best characters are balanced
and straightforward; art thrives on complexity and contradiction. When
creating a work, the artist is either divided between these two divergent
tendencies or comes down on one side or the other.
That
is
why, even for the most skilled craftsman in prose, every
1.
"Voluntarism"
is
the Soviet jargon-word wed for derogatory reference
to
Khrushchev's style of leadenhip.
ct.
the expression "cult of penonality"
!U
a euphemism for "Stalinism."
2. Another reference to Khfllllhchev'. method•.
