A. Bogdanov und der russische Proletkult. Theorie und Praxis einer sozialistischen Kulturrevolution

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Sun, A. Bogdanov und der russische Proletkult. Theorie und Praxis einer sozialistischen Kulturrevolution. Frankfurt a/M: Campus, 1980. 315 pp., DM 40.German scholars have been much more active than their English-speaking colleagues in studying the Proletkul't movement, and Gabriele Gorzka's book is the latest addition to an already large literature on the topic. One common feature of most of this literature is that it concentrates more on the theory of the Proletkul't than on its practice. As Gorzka points out, Soviet scholars have also tended to separate theory from practice in their studies of the Proletkul't. It is Gorzka's intention to unite these two themes. Only in this way, she argues, can one assess the Proletkul't's conflicts with the Communist Party, judge its actions by its own standards, and finally, discover the real causes for the Proletkul't's dramatic decline in the 1920's.Working primarily from published sources and Proletkul't journals, Gorzka gives a compact account of the expansion and decline of the Proletkul't in the first section of her book. She examines its many difficulties, including conflicts with the party and the inclusion of non-proletarian elements within its ranks. Finally, Gorzka addresses the changes in Proletkul't activities after 1920 and argues that they were not due to party pressure, as is usually stated, but rather to the leadership's independent realization that their methods had not been successful. The second section of the book addresses Bogdanov's work. Here Gorzka backtracks to show the development of the theory which inspired the Proletkul't. Marx and Lenin are the authorities against whom she measures Bogdanov's writings; she concludes that Lenin's theories were more suited to the needs of revolutionary Russia than were Bogdanov's. In the final part of the book, Gorzka tries to unite the themes of theory and practice. She attempts to show that the problems of the Proletkul't were due to its efforts to adhere to Bogdanov's theory. This caused the Proletkul't's conflicts with the party. In addition, it alienated the Proletkul't from its constituency. In Gorzka's view, peasants and workers left the Proletkul't because its theory no longer appealed to them.The difficulties with this book begin with its structure. By discussing practice-before the theory which inspired it, the author leaves many things unclear in her first section and ends up repeating herself in the final part. The section on Bogdanov is also not without its problems. Instead of spending so much time examining Bogdanov's Marxist credentials, she should have devoted more space to an investigation of his influence within the...