Литературный факт (Sep 2024)
Istrati, Rolland, Gorky: The New Facts of Soviet-French Literary Interactions of the 1920s–1930s
Abstract
The article analyzes the “Istrati case,” one of the most expressive travelers to the Land of the Soviets. The little-known and unpublished materials from the writers’ personal archives used in the study demonstrate a turning point in the evolution of the socio-political views of Rolland and Gorky. In 1928, both of them moved on from criticism of the internal policies of the Soviet leadership to cooperation with the Stalinist regime. Rolland dissociates himself from the writers of the Russian emigration and sends congratulations to the Soviet people on the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution; Gorky travels to the USSR after a seven-year absence. A kind of trigger in these conditions was the story of the Romanian writer P. Istrati, who came to the USSR to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution and was determined to stay in the country of the “red fighters” forever, as evidenced by his letter to Gorky. However, after staying in the USSR for more than a year and plunging into the everyday life of Soviet people, shaken by social and personal dramas caused by the arbitrariness of the authorities, against the backdrop of mass repression and the absence of any freedom, Istrati lost faith in the possibility of revolutionary transformations of society based on justice. In the history of Istrati’s interaction with his literary idols, new trends emerged that determined their social behavior: Gorky turned from the author of “Konovalov” (1897) into a “sweet panegyrist,” into a “pasha from Sorrento.” Rolland was ready to turn a blind eye to any abuses by the Soviet authorities for the sake of “defending the USSR.” The “untimely” decision to publish the book “To Another Flame” (1929) about his impressions of his stay in the USSR cost Rolland the friendship and recognition of the socialist writers from his circle.
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