Page 163 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 163
Play, Chaos and Autonomy in the Poetry of Hungarians in Voivodina (Uj Symposion) 163
style of literary experiments. Interpretation of the term by Zamyatin was
based on the reconciliation of the aesthetics of Realism with the aesthet-
ics of Romanticism and Modernism, and especially with the aesthetics
of Surrealism.6 Despite the fact that the majority of Russian scholars still
recognize the term Neo-Realism in the way it was established by Zamya-
tin and although they admit its effectiveness for Russian literature of the
1920s, it seems that the definition of the term, based only on an aesthet-
ic criterion, was insufficient to become more widespread. This was possi-
ble only later, when Neo-Realism became connected with a concrete po-
litical phenomenon: the Second World War and the life of the postwar
community.
It is widely known that Italian and European Neo-Realism in cine-
ma and literature reflected the difficult living conditions of ordinary peo-
ple from the political and social viewpoint in post-fascist European so-
ciety. Special significance was given to worthy behavior and proper life
principles. Against this background, great attention was attached to de-
tails and nuances, which facilitated identifying the narrated story with
the realism of life after the Second World War, and at first glance simple
life values became important: the humanism, morality, kindness, and sin-
cerity of human relationships (cf. Pacifici 1956; Chiaromonte 1953). So-
viet Neo-Realism was an interesting variant of European Neo-Realism
(Ratiani 2018, 177): Soviet power, unlike defeated fascism, was modified,
but still continued to exist. It was a reality that offered to restore and ob-
serve the ‘Leninist principles’ within society, thereby hindering one of
the main principles of Neo-Realism: realization of the just uprising of
an individual against ideological violence and moral humiliation. Nev-
ertheless, in the literary model of Neo-Realism, Soviet writers intuitive-
ly observed the perspective of the encounter of postwar Soviet literature
with the literatures of the non-Soviet European countries. An adapta-
tion of the Western model was nevertheless needed. Soviet Neo-Realism
moved away from political themes and was shaped into thoughtful liter-
ature distanced from ideology, which was imbued with anticipation and
the feeling of freedom, rather than searching for and analyzing its real
results.7 Distance from ideology gave it an opportunity to exist, where-
6 Zamyatin’s concept of Neo-Realism was manifested in lectures and articles from
1918 to the 1920s: “Sovremennaja russkaja literature” (Modern Russian Literature),
“O sintetizme” (Syntheticism), “O literature, revoljutsii i entropii” (Literature, Revo-
lution, and Entropy), “Ob jazike” (Language), and so on.
7 A clear example is the fact that the events in Georgia on March 9th, 1956 in fact did not
findadequatereflectioninGeorgianliteratureandproducedonlyadullechoinafewtexts.
style of literary experiments. Interpretation of the term by Zamyatin was
based on the reconciliation of the aesthetics of Realism with the aesthet-
ics of Romanticism and Modernism, and especially with the aesthetics
of Surrealism.6 Despite the fact that the majority of Russian scholars still
recognize the term Neo-Realism in the way it was established by Zamya-
tin and although they admit its effectiveness for Russian literature of the
1920s, it seems that the definition of the term, based only on an aesthet-
ic criterion, was insufficient to become more widespread. This was possi-
ble only later, when Neo-Realism became connected with a concrete po-
litical phenomenon: the Second World War and the life of the postwar
community.
It is widely known that Italian and European Neo-Realism in cine-
ma and literature reflected the difficult living conditions of ordinary peo-
ple from the political and social viewpoint in post-fascist European so-
ciety. Special significance was given to worthy behavior and proper life
principles. Against this background, great attention was attached to de-
tails and nuances, which facilitated identifying the narrated story with
the realism of life after the Second World War, and at first glance simple
life values became important: the humanism, morality, kindness, and sin-
cerity of human relationships (cf. Pacifici 1956; Chiaromonte 1953). So-
viet Neo-Realism was an interesting variant of European Neo-Realism
(Ratiani 2018, 177): Soviet power, unlike defeated fascism, was modified,
but still continued to exist. It was a reality that offered to restore and ob-
serve the ‘Leninist principles’ within society, thereby hindering one of
the main principles of Neo-Realism: realization of the just uprising of
an individual against ideological violence and moral humiliation. Nev-
ertheless, in the literary model of Neo-Realism, Soviet writers intuitive-
ly observed the perspective of the encounter of postwar Soviet literature
with the literatures of the non-Soviet European countries. An adapta-
tion of the Western model was nevertheless needed. Soviet Neo-Realism
moved away from political themes and was shaped into thoughtful liter-
ature distanced from ideology, which was imbued with anticipation and
the feeling of freedom, rather than searching for and analyzing its real
results.7 Distance from ideology gave it an opportunity to exist, where-
6 Zamyatin’s concept of Neo-Realism was manifested in lectures and articles from
1918 to the 1920s: “Sovremennaja russkaja literature” (Modern Russian Literature),
“O sintetizme” (Syntheticism), “O literature, revoljutsii i entropii” (Literature, Revo-
lution, and Entropy), “Ob jazike” (Language), and so on.
7 A clear example is the fact that the events in Georgia on March 9th, 1956 in fact did not
findadequatereflectioninGeorgianliteratureandproducedonlyadullechoinafewtexts.
