The Union Of Soviet Writers (1932-1991)

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol)

Ed. by Neil Cornwell, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.2.00: Post-1917 Writing and Culture in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, 1917-present.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Domains

Organisations and institutions (arts& culture)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1932-1991

Places

Russia (Location)

Resources

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The Union of Soviet Writers (

Soiuz Sovetskikh pisatelei

) was established in April 1932. All other exisiting writers’ groups were thereupon banned (including the arch-loyalist Russian Association of Proletarian Writers, or “RAPP”). This step was brought in by a Communist Party Central Committee resolution for the “reconstruction of literary and artistic organisations”. Socialist Realism was promulgated as the one essential artistic method. Branches of the Union were established in all Soviet republics, provinces and main towns. Parallel unions in the other branches of artistic activity were set up soon afterwards.

The first president of the Soviet Writers’ Union was Maxim Gorky. Membership was open to all writers who were intending to publish (including literary critics and

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921 words

Citation: Cornwell, Neil. "The Union Of Soviet Writers (1932-1991)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 September 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1583, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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