1 Much of this article is based upon research done under a fellowship granted by the Ford Foundation's Board on Overseas Training and Research. The fellowship award, of course, does not imply that the Ford Foundation endorses the views expressed here.

2 “O perestrojke literaturno-khudozhestvennykh organizacij,” Na literaturnom postu, No. 12 (April, 193a), p. 1.

3 The complex history of RAPP and its relations with the Party are treated in detail in Brown, Edward J., The Proletarian Episode in Russian Literature, 1928-1932, (New York, 1953)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Maurice Meyers, “The Soviet Writers’ Union and the Communist Party,” (Unpublished Master's Essay, Columbia University, 1950), pp. 19-24.

5 Pervyj vsesojuznyj s'ezd sovetskikh pisatelej, (Moscow, 1934), pp. 662-69.

6 Ibid., pp. 671-72. These Statutes were amended at the Second Congress of Writers, Dec, 1954, but as of the time of writing this article the revised text has not been published. My analysis, therefore, shall be based upon the old rules, under which the Union operated for 20 years.

7 Also translated as Board, Directorate and Administration.

8 Listed in Peruyj vsesojuznyj s'ezd …, p. 712.

9 Pavel Judin made the estimate in his speech to the First Congress. Ibid., p. 663.

10 Literaturnaja gazeta, Dec. 27, 1954, p. 3. A new Board of 135 members was elected at the 1954 Congress. Only 18 members of the first Board were included in the new slate (Ibid., p. s). Among the prominent writers omitted were the poets Nikolaj Aseev and Boris Pasternak and the novelist-playwright Fëdor Panfërov.

11 Vtoroj plenum pravlenija Sojuza sovetskikh pisatelej SSSR, (Moscow, 1935), p. 5.

12 E.g., see newspaper report on Presidium meeting in January, 1936, which discussed a report on Soviet poetry, “K plenumu pravlenija SSP SSSR,” Lit. gaz., Jan. 15, 1936, p. 1.

13 See speeches of I. Nusinov and Goffenshefer in Vtoroj plenum … , pp. 105-9, 865-70.

14 Zametki vpechatlenija na chetvertom plenume pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 26, 1937. P. 6.

15 “Za idejnuju boevuju dramaturgiju,” Lit. gaz., Dec. 25, 1948, p. 2.

16 “Plenum pravlenija Sojuza sovetskikh pisatelej,” Pravda, Jan. 29, 1950, p. 3. One would expect that the comparatively relaxed atmosphere during the year following Stalin's death would have resulted in greater controversy at the Board meetings in October, 1953, and March, 1954. Unfortunately, the newspaper reports of discussion at these meetings are too abbreviated to judge the mood. Despite a new tightening of controls in 1954, many speakers at the Second Congress (December, 1954) voiced criticism of a type that would not have been tolerated at earlier Writers’ Union meetings. (See especially speeches by Erenburg, Ovechkin, Aliger, Berggol'ts, Sholokhov and Shaginjan in Lit. gaz., Dec. 20, 23, 24 and 26, 1954.)

17 An excellent example of this occurred during Shcherbakov's report to the Executive Board in 1936. Upon the first mention of Stalin's name the stenographer recorded a “stormy applause” passing into a standing ovation, followed by shouts of “hurrah” and a rendition of the “Internationale” by the band. (A. S. Shcherbakov, “Otkrytie III plenuma pravlenija SSP SSSR,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 12, 1936, p. 1.)

18 E.g., see reports in Lit. gaz., Feb. 12, 1936, p. 3 and May 18, 1939, p. 1.

19 A report preceding the 1937 meeting announced that 15 national poets and translators of Pushkin's works into minority languages would attend the session. (“Nakanune pushkinskogo plenuma pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 5, 1937, p. 1.) Also, Literaturnaja gazeta stated before the 1950 session that forty-seven directors of local writers’ organizations and IOO children's writers would be present. (“Segodnja otkryvaetsja XIII plenum Sojuza sovetskikh pisatelej SSSR,” Lit. gaz., Jan. 25, 1950, p. 1.)

20 A. Fadeev, “O rabote Sojuza pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., Oct. 29, 1953, p. 3.

21 Some resolutions called upon the Presidium to achieve certain general objectives. In 1935, for instance, the Executive Board called for better training of critics and young writers (Vtoroj plenum … , p. 512), and in 1948 it obligated the Presidium to take certain steps to improve dramaturgy and motion pictures (Lit. gaz., Jan. 15, 1949, p. 2). Even these suggestions were phrased rather broadly.

22 This occurred in 1939, 1944 and 1947, and will be discussed below.

23 Pervyj vsesojuznyj s'ezd …, p. 714. The list of candidates for the Presidium was presented “on behalf of the Party group in the Executive Board.“

24 “Shevchenkovskij plenum pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., May 10, 1939, p. 1.

25 In 1950, for instance, the Board added seven new members to the Presidium (“Dnevnik plenuma,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 4, 1950, p. 1).

26 XIV plenum pravlenija Sojuza sovetskikh pisatelej SSSR. Utrenee zasedanie 24 oktjabrja,” Lit. gaz., Oct. 27, 1953, p. 3. The first plenum of the second Executive Board, held just after the Second Congress closed, elected a new Presidium of 42 members (Pravda, Dec. 29, 1954, p. 3). This Presidium contains more representatives of minority nationalities than previous ones.

27 Nakanune plenuma. V prezidiume pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 20, 1935, p. 2.

28 “K plenumu pravlenija SSP SSSR, Obsuzhdenie tezisov doklada ‘O poezii',” Lit. gaz., Jan. 15, 1938, p. 1.

29 “Postanovlenie prezidiuma pravlenija SSP SSSR ot 23 janvarja 1935 g.,” Lit. gaz., Jan. 20, 1935, p. 4.

30 “Zasedanie prezidiuma SSP SSSR,” Lit. gaz., April 26, 1937, p. 1.

31 “O plane rabot SSP SSSR,” Lit. gaz., Sept. 5, 1937, p. 6.

32 “O tolstykh zhurnalakh,” Lit. gaz., May 10, 1935, p. 8 and “V prezidiume pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., March 30, 1935, p. 5.

33 E.g., see meetings of the Presidium reported in Lit. gaz., July 30, 1938, p. 4; Feb. 80, 1939, p. 6; Sept. 10, 1939, p. 1; and Literatura i iskusstvo, Oct. 2, 1943, p. 2.

34 See meetings reported in Lit. gaz. or Lit. i isk., for Aug. 4, 1938, p. 4; April 26, 1939, p. 1; Sept. 29, 1942, p. 2; May 10, 1936, pp. 1-2; Nov. 26, 1938, p. 2; Dec. 11, 1943, p. 3; and Aug. 26, 1944, p. 4.

35 The first large-scale expulsion was on August 20, 1935, when 12 were excluded by the Presidium (“Povysim revoljucionnuju bditel'nost', razoblachcim vragov naroda,” Lit. gaz., Aug. 27, 1936, p. 4.

36 Bor'ba s averbakhovshchinoj,” Lit. gaz.. May 30, 1937, p. 5

37 O plane rabot SSP SSSR,” Lit. gaz., Sept. 5, 1937, p. 6. This is one of the very rare cases when the press reported a negative vote cast in any organ of the Union. The novelist Lidija Sejfullina attempted to defend Afinogenov and urged a one-year suspension instead of outright expulsion. Her proposal received only two votes.

38 V Sojuze sovetskikh pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., Jan. 30, 1939, p. 1.

39 V Sojuze sovetskikh pisatelej SSSR,” Lit. i isk., Jan. 22, 1944, p. 2.

40 The Presidium elected an entire Secretariat in 1946 (Lit. gaz., Sept. 7, 1946, p. 2) and later added members to it (Lit. gaz., June 18, 1949, p. 2).

41 V prezidiume pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., March 30, 1935, p. 5.

42 “K plenumu pravlenija SSP SSSR. Obsuzhdenie tezisov doklada ‘O poezii',” Lit. gaz., Jan. 15, 1936, p. 1.

43 “V prezidiume Sojuza sovetskikh pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., March 10, 1939, p. 4.

44 E.g., meeting discussed in “O plane rabot SSP SSSR,” Lit. gaz., Sept. 5, 1937, p. 6. This was one of the practices that the poetess Margarita Aliger protested at the Second Congress of Writers, pointing out that discussion “involves the consideration of a controversial question in order to clarify differing points of view, and does not involve an official summary which brands these differing points of view as mistakes” (Lit. gaz., Dec. 23, 1954, p. 3). Fadeev stated the rationale which justifies these “official summaries” when he replied that “differing points of view cannot be equally correct,” and added: “A broad and free creative discussion is necessary for the very purpose of finding objective truth by comparing different points of view and making this truth as accessible as possible to all writers …” (Lit. gaz., Dec. 27, 1954, p. 3).

45 E.g., see meetings reported in Lit. gaz., Dec. 4, 1948, p. 4; Aug. 10, 1949, p. 3; Sept. 26, 1951, p. 1; Feb. 14, 1952, p. 2.

46 These discussions were rarely reported in the press. In 1951, however, a writer criticized the Secretariat for its practice of discussing literary works at closed meetings (V. Kovalevskij, “Zhizn’ tvorcheskikh sekcij,” Lit. gaz., June 28, 1951, p. 2). The charge was repeated in 1954 (A. Bezymenskij and Jur. Korol'kov, “Za podlinuju demokratiju v Sojuze pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., Nov. 13, 1954, p. 3).

47 He wrote in 1951: ”… The Union's Presidium, a broad executive organ elected by the Board, very rarely discussed major literary problems and individual works. The Secretariat has almost entirely taken over the work of the Presidium.” A. Fadeev, “O zabvenii obshchestvennykh form tvorcheskoj raboty v Sojuze pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., June 30, 1951. P.3.

48 E.g., see Aleksej Tolstoj et al., “O nedostatkakh v rabote Sojuza pisatelej,” Pravda, Jan. 26, 1938, p. 4; A. Fadeev, “Nedostatki raboty Sojuza pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., Jan. 27, 1938, p. 2; Peredovaja, “O rabote Sojuza pisatelej,” Literaturnyj kritik, No. 4 (April, 1938), pp. 3-7.

49 E.g., Vasilij Azhaev, “Uvazhaf svoj ‘literaturnyj cekh,’ “ Lit. gaz., Nov. 11, 1954, pp. 2-3, and A. Bezymenskij and Jur. Korol'kov, op. cit. Fadeev, General Secretary from 1946 to 1953, and Aleksej Surkov, who succeeded him, were among the most censorious of Secretary Stavskij's critics in 1938.

50 Lit . gaz., Dec. 27, 1954, p. 3.

51 There had been no chairman since Nikolaj Tikhonov was removed in 1946. In all, the Union of Writers has had only three chairmen: Maksim Gorkij, from the founding of the Union until his death in 1936, Tikhonov from 1944 to 1946, and finally, Fadeev from 1953 to 1954. Of these three, only Tikhonov seems to have directed the actual operation of the Union. The post of chairman was abolished at the Second Congress.

52 “O perestrojke literaturno-khudozhestvennykh organizacij,” Na literaturnom postu, No. 12 (April, 1932), p. 1.

53 Pervyj vsesojuznyj s'ezd …, p. 574.

54 E.g., meetings reported in Lit. gaz., Oct. 2, 1934, p. 1; Jan. 24, 1935, p. 4; and Oct. 20, 1936, p. 6.

55 “V partkome Sojuza pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., May 15, 1937, p. 1. ““Ob oshibkakh partorganizacij pri iskljuchenii kommunistov iz partii, o formal'nobjurokraticheskom otnoshenii k apelljacijam isklj uchennykh iz VKP (b) i o merakh po ustraneniju etykh nedostatkov,” Pravda, Jan. 29, 1938, pp. 1-2.

57 Peredovaja, “O rabote Sojuza pisatelej,” Literaturnoe obozrenie, No. g (May, 1938), p. 5.

58 See especially editorials in Lit. gaz., March 20, 1938 and in Lit. kritik, No. 4 (April, 1938). pp. 3-7.

59 Peredovaja, “Uluchshif kachestvo partijnoj raboty,” Lit. gaz., March 20, 1938, p. 1. Party organizations were called upon particularly to attract more non-Party men to their political study circles. (M. Flejshman, “Pozornoe otstavanie. V partorganizacii Sojuza pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 10, 1938, p. 2.) Other appeals for better political indoctrination can be found in reports of Party meetings in Lit. gaz., Dec. i, 1939, p. 6 and Oct. 15, 1940, p. 6.

60 See “Opyt odnogo zasedanija,” Lit. gaz., Aug. 5, 1938, p. 4, and “Ob odnoj partgruppe,” Lit. gaz., March 1, 1939, p. 4.

61 “V partgruppe pravlenija SSP,” Lit. gaz., Sept. 14, 1946, p. 1.

62 On April, 1947, a party meeting was held to discuss the Central Committee decrees on literature and Zhdanov's speeches (“Za vysokuju idejnost’ literatury,” Lit. gaz., Oct. 5, 1946, p. 1). The drive against “cosmopolitanism” was considered in 1948 (“Protiv nizkopoklonstva v literaturovedenii,” Lit. gaz., Jan. 24, 1948, p. 4). The Pravda editorial on “anti-patriotic” theater critics was followed by a party meeting in February, 1949 (“Vyshe znamja sovetskogo patriotizma,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 12, 1949, p. 3). Another Pravda editorial in 1951 attacking certain critics was followed by a Party gathering (“Za idejnuju chistotu i principial'nost',” Lit. gaz., Nov. 27, 1951, p . 3).

63 E.g., see meetings reported in Lit. gaz., Jan. 20, 1951, p. 2, and Jan. 25, 1952, p. 2.

64 “Na partijnom sobranii moskovskikh pisatelej,” Lit. gaz., Dec. 15, 1948, p. 2.

65 E.g., A. Surkov, “Puti perestrojki,” Lit. gaz., Feb. 5, 1938, p. 3; V. Kaverin et al., “Tovarishcham po rabote,” Lit. gaz., Oct. 26, 1954, p. 3.

66 The novelist Vasilij Azhaev, for instance, quoted the following as comments often heard before the Second Congress: “I don't expect anything from the Congress. We'll shoot the breeze and go home.” “The Writers’ Union has outlived its purpose. No one needs it.” V. Azhaev, “Uvazhat” svoj ‘literaturnyj cekh',” Lit. gaz., Nov. 11, 1954, translated in the Current Digest 0/ the Soviet Press, Vol. VI, No. 50 (Jan. 26, 1955), p. 3.