WRITERS IN EXILE
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convinced that unless we come back to the beginning of ideology
and project ideological values, human values, into our social
and economic sciences, including political science, we have be–
trayed the very foundations of our civilization and we have con–
tributed
to
its doom. Thank you.
DANIEL BELL: Thank you, Mr. Loebl. I would like
to
encour–
age discussion, but first, let me ask a question of Mr. Aksyonov,
one that also applies to Mr. Nekrasov and Mr. Loebl, though I
think it's directly in t(!rms of Mr. Aksyonov's notion. There is a
current of thought here, possibly best expressed by someone like
George Steiner, who says: "At least in the Soviet Union they take
literature seriously; in the West they don't. And one of the proofs
is, after all, that the KGB attends all the meetings of the writers
and takes notes. Isn't that a tribute to writers?" Now it's almost
become a form of chic here to make statements of that kind. I
wonder if you would comment on it.
VASSILY AKSYONOV: Yes, I'm talking of the fact that in gen–
eral this exaggeration of the role of literature is based on a Rus–
sian tradition, because in Russia on the whole there has never
been free expression of political thought: both the public and the
readers have tried
to
find through the writers answers to various
accursed questions about Russian reality, and have seen literature
as a kind of substitute for the expression of public opinion, of
public life. But under the Soviet regime this has become a colossal
exaggeration, and the Soviet authorities often fight bitterly
against books as if their entire fate-the fate of their whole re–
gime-were at stake. And in general, they actually create their
enemies themselves. They are totally incapable of being flexible.
I'm talking here about the fact that they have developed in them–
selves a provincial fear of literature, and they try to fight against
literature as if it were a very serious political enemy, and each of
us writers who have emigrated knows this through his own
expenence.
DANIEL BELL: Is there anybody in the audience ...
MARGARITA DUBOYSKAYA: I'm an engineer. I emigrated
two years ago and work at an engineering firm. I was struck by
Dr. Loebl's speech. I am now surrounded by Americans and,
working with them, I feel I cannot break through the wall of their
naive incomprehension. I try
to
explain things
to
them in my
English, which in general is not yet a language. I was surprised
