Elizaveta Dvortsova1; 1 University of Southern California, United States
Discussion
This paper examines the dominance of binary oppositions and dichotomous thinking in the literary-critical discourse of the 1960s. Specifically, it explores how the tension between the “real” and the “fake” became a defining feature of Soviet cultural narratives. While the roots of this binary and its persistence in Soviet and post-Soviet Russian culture warrant further investigation, the paper suggests that its prominence in the late USSR stemmed from the contradictions and ambiguities that pervaded Soviet life.
Denouncing Stalin in 1956 and proclaiming in 1961 transition from established socialism to its advanced form – communism, Nikita Khrushchev opened the gates for discussions that flooded the Soviet media space. The 1960s were a time of accelerating debates between “thick” journals – printed media combining fiction and criticism with political articles. The paper approaches the discrepancy between official Party proclamations and the existing order through a case study of literary-critical polemics between two major “thick” journals of the era based in ostensibly opposing camps – Oktiabr’ (“October”) in the more “conservative” camp and Novyi mir (“New World”) in the more “liberal” camp.
Focusing on the binary of “true” versus “sham” and reflections of this opposition in the discussion of Soviet novel (opened by Novyi mir in 1960), the paper demonstrates how the dichotomy between “real” and “fake” was presented in literary criticism. It argues that the prevalence of such dualities in the critical discourse of the time reflected a broader cultural contradiction between reality and pretense, a dichotomy that underpinned the Soviet ideological and cultural system. By examining these critical discussions, the paper sheds light on how literary discourse mirrored and reinforced the ideological tensions of the period.
