P'ARTISAN
REVIEW
259
Surely it must
be
obvious that undiluted pragmatism, the urge
to
sub–
ordirtateliterature and
art
to the needs of today's ephemeral situation
lind- to the requirements of a putative tomorrow, the disregard of the
complexities of ,life and of the dialectics of development,
is
extremely
harmful not only to literature but to society as a whole.
Art
acts like a refreshing shower on society, which without its
astringent critical effect will inevitably
tUm
moldy and rotten. Those
who dispense undiscriminating praise and total affinnation of the
status quo are in fact nothing but the gravediggers of society, and it
iJ
a great pity that we ,have so far failed to make clear the full danger
of this phenomenon. It is a great pity that to this day many people
are still convinCed that those who tend to see the negative aspects of
QU(,s'Ociety, and
a
f(),rtiori~
those who criticize it, are all infected with
th,e ,'spint
~of bo~rgeois
ideology, are denigrators and ideological
sab0-
teUrs.
,Surely
it
cannot
be
necessary to point out that this attitude is, to
say
,the very least, futile; that the truth, however unpleasant, if put
honestly and directly, cannot harm what is good; that our real, as
opposed to ,our
imaginary
enemies have at
all
times camouflaged them–
selves behind sentiments of irreproachable loyalty and have played the
false friend to perfection. Do we need to be reminded that all palace
revolutions, all stabs in the back, all plots and treasons were carried
out by their victims' most trusted associates, by people, in fact, who
appeared to
be
~tterly
loyal?
(Applause)
Undoubtedly it
requires
not only talent but courage to write the
truth; but it also needs courage to accept the truth in its fullness and
complexity. And here perhaps one should regretfully admit that there
are times when certain of our leaders - those, in fact, who should
possess this quality in greater measure than others - do not, to put it
mildly,
show up very well. Whilst paying lip service to the idea that
criticism is the driving force of society, they nevertheless do their
utmost to ensure tJ:1,at criticism proceeds in one direction only - from
the top downward.
(AppltzUse)
iBut .where literature is concerned there are no such things as the
top
Or
the bottom.
(Applause)
Since literature is the science of man,
it looks upon the milkmaid and the minister, the rank-and-file Party
member and the Secretary of the Central Committee, with equal
0b–
jectivity.
,We all know that like any monopoly, a monopoly of criticism
is
greatly
,to
the liking of those who wield it. I need not stress its ad–
vantages in our political life; but for literature it
is
fatal. Literature
without the critical principle is mere entertainment, philistine trivia.
Surely we learned
this
lesson well enough from the example of that
