ВИН. Enticement of Inferno.1997

 

THE CHALLENGE

 

In today's Russia, the seismic cultural and political shifts caused by the collapse of the former Soviet Union are reflected and refracted in exciting and fast-paced developments in the worlds of art, theater, music, literature, journalism, television, and film. In a society where the state routinely manipulated “reality” in order to control its citizenry, artists and cultural professionals played an important role as a trusted source of truthful information. The artist, intricately enmeshed with the state in the dance of censorship, always struggled to avoid serving as a “mouthpiece” for the government. Instead of falling victim to the tentacles of the machine, many artists exploited it to convey their truths, which were disguised as “appropriate art.” Thus, as artists used their art to construct their subtle and delicate opposition to the State, they were at the same time inextricably intertwined with and defined by it.

Working outside the official state system was also not an option. Under the old Soviet regime, the State subsidized virtually every cultural initiative, provided that it conformed strictly to official ideological guidelines. By means of censorship and operating through professional organizations, such as the Union of Soviet Writers or the Union of Soviet Artists, authorities exercised tight control over the nation's cultural life. In practice, it meant that no individual who did not belong to one of the Unions was allowed to publish his or her work, and the tiny minority of dissidents who attempted to reach their audience through unofficial underground channels were subjected to continuous harassment, persecution and, in many cases, prosecution. On the other hand, ideologically conformist authors and artists were provided with great opportunities to exhibit, publish, produce, or perform. The State paid handsome salaries, provided national visibility, and guaranteed the artists an elite social status.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government has gradually withdrawn much of its funding. This has forced creative intellectuals as well as artistic collectives to rely increasingly on self-support, which, within the confines of the burgeoning market economy, often means fierce competition and the altering of artistic standards in order to meet the demands of the market. Among the consequences of such a drastic change are the commercialization and privatization of some cultural enterprises; the catastrophic state of such institutions as libraries, museums, schools of art and music; the vagaries of the residual financing of culture by the federal and regional authorities; the inaccessibility of culture, for various reasons, to large segments of the population, and so on. In some fields, however, the consequences of change have actually resulted in positive developments. Literary and music publishing is thriving, television programming has evolved, and the Internet has influenced all art forms just as it has in the United States. In these areas, the challenge is to maintain momentum while upholding quality.

Perhaps the most intriguing challenge for culture has been the re-definition of the role of art and artists in society as the “voice of truth” speaking against a government that would control “reality”. In an interesting parallel with the transitions that Mexico is now undergoing, Carlos Fuentes made comments in a recent New York Times interview that are perfectly applicable to the situation today in Russia: 

“…The difference is that 30 years ago, if the writer did not speak, nobody spoke. Now I do not have to speak out. It's not that I have given up writing about politics… But today I am doing it as a citizen. I am not doing it from a privileged position I have as a writer... There's a million sectors speaking out for themselves. They don't need me.” (NYT 1/31/01)

This conference is held under the auspices of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies and the Yale Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. It is sponsored by the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Fund at Yale.

 

 Rita Lipson
rita.lipson@yale.edu

 

Copyright © 2003 by Rita Lipson