The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-03-21


own, but even to such countries and
nationalities as Yukutia, Kirghisia,
and the Chuvash region which are
only beginning to develop a culture
of their own.
The All-Russian Conference which
has just taken place has brought to
a conclusion period of stormy Great
i've searching and of rallying all the
proletarian literary forces, and it has
inaugurated new and glorious peri
cd of creative development and Of
harmonious construction.
THE conference has pointed the
way to creative literary work in
the near future. While during the
period of civil war, proletarian liter
ature was justified in dealing with
reality in an abstract and symbolic
manner and even to indulge in trite
hymns of praise, more artistic man
ner of dealing with concrete revolu-
tionary reality is needed now. The
proletarian Tyrtaeus must give way
to the proletarian Homer. This change
in the subject of literary productions
must naturally bring with it change
in their outward form-pathetic lyric
poetry is supplanted by epic and
drama, artistic prose pushes poetry
INTO the background.
in this new proletarian literary
movement emphasis is laid on the
subject matter for which a suitable
artistic form must be found. But this
form cannot simply originate in the
fertile brain of some theorists.
1t will make it's appearance only
when proletarian writer's will have
mastered all the old forms and
will have transformed these forms
by the new subject matter pro
vided by them. Such is the view
point of the proletarian literature of
the Soviet Union in its creative work
This does not of course mean that
hymns of praise and pathetic lyrical
poetry are to be done away with al
together. Nothing of the kind
1t only means that the main Great
i've efforts of the proletarian writer's
tend the other way. All these ideas
are formulated in the theological and
artistic program adopted unanimously
at the conference.
DUT the conference has also done
- splendid work with respect to
the coordination of proletarian liter
ature. Until recently proletarian lit
erature was divided into large num-
Der Of small groups and circles which
all worked independently and without
the least connection with each other.
Some of these circles got SO accus.
toned to their exclusiveness that they
declared this an ideal state of things
and advocated its perpetuation and
development. A feature of this ten
dency was the notion held by some
people that proletarian writer can
only be someone "who has shown
himself to be a master of the written
word" and that working class poets
who are only beginners and workers
COAA CopOuuSutS CduuOJ DC COuSlu6T6U
full-fedged members of proletarian
literary organizations.
THE majority of the groups and
circles of proletarian writer's
fought against this unhealthy separat-
list tendency and propagated the prin-
ciple of an all-embracing and strongly
welded together proletarian literary
organization, admitting into its ranks
not only writer's who have already
made name for themselves, but also
working class poets who have as yet
to make a name for themselves.
There were violent disputes on this
question which even led to a split in
the proletarian literary movement.
THE conference put and end to
l. this split and to these dis
putes. The conference was attended
by all the amalgamations and groups
of the proletarian writer's of the So
Wet Union, and prolerarian literature
was given definite form at this con-
ference as the All-Russian Associa-