Literature and power in the new age: institutions and divisions

Abstract

The last time literature had a serious influence in this country and stood up to the authorities was during the period of so-called ‘perestroika and glasnost.’ That period was marked by an incredible jump in the circulation of books and, even more so, of journals (2,500,000 for Novy mir, 1,800,000 for Druzhba narodov, 1,000,000 for Znamya, with comparable figures for other periodicals). Another indicator of the writers’ high status was their success in politics. Parliamentary elections were direct, open, and honest; they empowered real writers – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Vitaly Korotich, Fazil Iskander, Sergei Averintsev, Boris Oleynik... Literary criticism flourished, and even non-specialists dabbled in it. A good example is Gavril Popov’s acclaimed review of Alexander Bek’s novel The New Appointment in which he discussed the ‘administrative-command system’ (Popov, 1986). Real criticism was in the lead during perestroika, apprizing readers of previously banned books that finally saw the light of day when censorship ended in 1990. Over time, the trove of ‘banned’ books emptied out, publications decreased, circulations went down, and literature went into decline. Its impact turned out to be largely illusory. Little by little, literature turned upon itself, while criticism abandoned its lofty mission of enlightenment and returned to its traditional concerns. No wonder the first independent award for critics founded in the new era was named after the nineteenth -century critic Apollon Grigoriev whose ‘organic criticism’ privileged aesthetic analysis over public engagement. New fault lines surfaced in the 90s when society and readership splintered and unprecedented literary institutions sprang up across the country. Two names frequently mentioned in this period served to highlight the new trends: Soros and Booker. Both came to Russia from the West, both referred to institutions of key significance to the literary world. One, initiated by the Soros Foundation (Open Society Foundations), aimed to boost literary periodicals in Russia. The other, the Booker (Russian Booker), was a nonstate literary award for the best Russian novel. The Apollon Grigoriev prize also had no state sponsor; it was sponsored by two Russian billionaires, Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Potanin, and ONEXIM Bank.