PERSONAL AND POLITICAL COMPROMISE IN STROGII IUNOSHA
In Chapter Two I discussed Olesha's reaction to the demands made on writers in the Soviet Union, particularly after the establishment o f a single Union o f Soviet Writers in 1932, to use literature (above all drama) as a tool for socialist propaganda. This included plans and drafts for a play about relationships between the old and the new, at this stage on the path towards the 'radiant future' o f a classless society. Olesha was under considerable pressure to keep reiterating that he genuinely shared the Party's ideological aspirations in life and in literature, and to prove that he still had something to offer in this time o f transition. He was in a delicate position, having made too many mistakes and having expressed too many doubts in the past. He was clearly made to feel that his next project, Strogii iunosha. would make or break him in the new society. Much thought, therefore, went into this bold attempt to create a personally and politically acceptable 'play' for the screen.
The present chapter focuses on the way in which Olesha used Strogii iunosha in his attempt to reach a compromise between his personal position and literary concerns on the one hand, and the political demands for Socialist Realist content and form in literature on the other. I shall argue that, without complete capitulation to any ideological or literary template, it was through the plot, the thematics and the characterization within Strogii iunosha. that Olesha strove to reconcile him self and his art to the Socialist Realist demands for didactic and
inspirational drama. ^ This argument will be presented below in four sections, dealing respectively with the plot; the themes treated; and the characterization - first o f the 'strogii iunosha' as sportsman and moral guide, then o f the other characters as metaphors o f the old and the new. In each case, the content o f Strogii iunosha shows Olesha's attempt to reconcile him self to the demands o f political authority.
The plot o f Strogii iunosha; an opportunity for mutual reassessment
In this section I shall examine the way in which the plot o f Strogii iunosha reveals Olesha's attempt to demonstrate his allegiance to the Party's ideological concerns, whilst retaining his own values. He does this mainly through a plot device which brings together the representatives o f the old, bourgeois lifestyle and the Komsomol youth o f the future, and causes each side to reassess the other. The result is mutual appreciation for each other's different qualitites, and political tolerance on the part o f the Communists, in the knowledge that the non-Party members are nevertheless working towards the same goal o f a better, more equal future.
On 3 July 1934, at the 'Dom sovetskogo pisatelia' in M oscow, lurii Olesha held a reading o f Strogii iunosha. which he had written in Odessa over 29 days during May and June o f that year.^ A newspaper report on the work appeared in
^At this stage I focus on Olesha's intentions and the resulting work, rather than discussing to what degree, ultimately, he succeeded. Critical judgements on Strogii iunosha are presented in Chapters One and Five.
^On this and for details of the first two publications of Strogii iunosha see: Heil, No list of Political Assets, p. 1 and p. 72 (endnote 3).
Sovetskoe iskusstvo two days later, describing the reactions o f the writers and film directors present at the reading, and informing the public that:
'Olesha v etoi p'ese vpervye postavil bol'shuiu problemu o novom cheloveke, o novykh sotsialisticheskikh chuvstvakh i otnosheniiakh. Po svoemu zamyslu kinop'esa Oleshi — literatumoe proizvedenie glubokogo filosofskogo znacheniia.'^
On 17 July, readers were given a foretaste o f the actual text o f Strogii iunosha. as Sovetskoe iskusstvo published an extract from it, introduced by Olesha him self Here, the author explains that:
'V p'ese dlia kinematografa "Strogii iunosha" rasskazyvaetsia o tom, kak nekii molodoi chelovek-komsomolets poliubil zhenu izvestnogo khimrga. Khirurg ne molod, zhena ego — iunaia zhenshchina. Khirurg zhivet za ogradoi, v sadu, na ville, darovannoi emu pravitel'stvom. Eto — izvestnyi vsemu mini uchenyi, velikii doktor
Having emphasized the centrality o f issues such as youth versus age, and ideological values versus material rewards, as well as raising questions concerning the recognition o f talent and the problems o f love, Olesha introduces the other key characters:
^'"Strogii iunosha". Pervaia kinop'esa lu. Oleshi', Sovetskoe iskusstvo. 5 July 1934, no. 31 (197), p. 2.
"^'"Strogii iunosha". Otryvok iz p'esy dlia kinematografa', Sovetskoe iskusstvo. 17 July 1934, no. 33 (199), p. 3. The central figure of a professor with a world-wide reputation can also be found in two o f Mikhail Bulgakov's works of the 1920s; Persikov, the professor of zoology in Rokovye iaitsa (1924) and Preobrazhenskii, a professor and medical doctor in Sobach'e serdtse (1925). In contrast to Stepanov, however, Bulgakov's protagonists end up harming rather than helping Soviet society through their work. For more on the relationship between the works o f Bulgakov and Olesha see Chapter 2 note 40 above. For a reference to the film versions of Sobach'e serdtse (Vladimir Bortko, 1988) and Rokowe iaitsafSereei Lomkin, 1995) see Chapter Six, note 47.
'V p'ese uchastYuet riad moiodykh liudei. V tom chisle nekto, kto imenuetsia Diskobolom. Eto drug glavnogo geroia p'esy — komsomol'tsa Grishi Fokina.
Odnim iz siuzhetnykh zven'ev p'esy iavliaetsia operatsiia.
Vnezapno zaboievaet devushka — chlen TsK komsomola Ol'ga. Voznikaet neobkhodimost' vrachnogo khirurgicheskogo vmeshatel'stva. Bol'nuiu privodiat v kliniku. Operatsiiu proizvodit khirurg Stepanov.'^ From these sentences it is clear that the screenplay revolves around the inter relationship o f people o f significantly different ages with significantly different ideologies, social backgrounds and attitudes.^
For a greater sense o f context, it is also worth noting that subsequently, in his famous speech at the First Congress o f Soviet Writers in 1934, Olesha expressed the opinion that the writer has a moral duty to educate society: Pisatel' dolzhen byt' vospitatelem i uchitelem.'^ He explained how he personally would
^•Rech' lu. Oleshi' in Pervyi Vsesoiuznvi s'e zd pisatelei SSSR. p. 236. The topos of the operation as an ideological tool can be found in several works of and about the 1920s and 1930s. For example in Evgenii Zamiatin's novel My (1919-20 ) the main character D-503 writes: 'Da zdravstvuet Velikaia Operatsiia! Da zdravstvuet Edinoe Gosudarstvo, da zdravstvuet Blagodetel'!' See: Evgenii Zamiatin, Sochineniia. Moscow, 1988, p. 121. Here, the operation is a means of subjugating the individual to the will o f the United State. It is also present in Boris Pil'niak's tale of 1926, which was withdrawn and banned as soon as it had been published, Tovest' nepogashennoi luny'. See: Boris Pil'niak, Rasplesnutoe vremia. Rasskazy. povesti. romany. Moscow, 1990, pp. 78- 107. As mentioned in Chapter Six (note 47), in Sergei Livnev's film Serp i molot (Russia, 1994), set during the 1930s, Stalin has approved the carrying out of operations to change the gender of an individual according to the State's current needs.
^These themes are equally central to Bulgakov's Sobach'e serdtse. ^ Pervyi Vsesoiuznyi s"ezd pisatelei SSSR. p. 237.
fulfil his obligation: 'la budu pisat' p esy i povesti, gde deistvuiushchie litsa budut reshat' zadachi moral'nogo kharaktera.'^ This is particularly important for Communism, which is not just an economic system, but also a moral one, he said, 'i pervymi voplotiteliami etoi storony kommunizma budut molodye liudi i molodye devushki.'^ It follows, therefore, that Olesha felt he should be writing primarily for and about young people. Accordingly, although he did not refer to the work in his speech, Strogii iunosha contains a great deal o f emphasis on questions o f ethics and morality.
Some clarifying detail should be added to Olesha's outline o f the plot o f Strogii iunosha. To summarize: a famous, successful surgeon. Dr. lulian Nikolaevich Stepanov, is staying at his luxurious summer residence, provided by the state as a reward for his excellence, with his wife, Masha, and his acquaintance, Tsitronov. The couple's idyllic life, already slightly strained by Tsitronov's obsequious, obnoxious and parasitic presence, is further disrupted when the idealistic young Communist student o f engineering, Grisha Fokin, comes to visit.
Grisha falls in love with Masha, but reveres the eminent doctor too greatly to upset him by admitting his feelings to Masha. In addition to this, as the codifier o f a 'set o f moral qualities' which every Komsomol member should possess, Grisha feels he must not transgress these, which he would do were he to admit his feelings for Stepanov's wife. Yet his friend, D iskobof, tells Masha and Stepanov about Grisha's love precisely because he feels it is a breach o f the code to conceal the truth.
* Ibid. 9 Ibid., p. 238.