I. Two Cultural Revolutions: Introduction

Maxim Gorky, Proletarian Writer

A. utopian revolution

B. authoritarian class revolution

C. is proletarian culture possible?

II. Regime cultural policy from 1918

A. soft line policies

B. hard line opposition

C. The example of literature

III. Cultural Revolution as class war, 1928-1932

A. targets of cultural revolution

B. language of class war

C. revolution from above or from below?

1. Shakhty trial and purge of engineers

a. trial of the engineers

b. the drive to "unmask" enemies

2. radicalism in literary politics

a. All-Union Association of Proletarian Writers (VAPP)

b. literary theory vs. control of the perks

IV. End of the cultural revolution

A. Start of a new normalcy? Return to normalcy?

B. Was it all part of the design to subjugate the population?

Music: Dmitri Shostakovich, "Sports Contest," from the ballet "The Golden Age" (1930) (Chandos)