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This article was downloaded by: [DUT Library] On: 09 October 2014, At: 07:34 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK British Journal for the History of Philosophy Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rbjh20 Nietzschean foundations of soviet culture: Beyond good and evil Boris Gubman a a Tver State University Published online: 03 Jun 2008. To cite this article: Boris Gubman (1997) Nietzschean foundations of soviet culture: Beyond good and evil, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 5:1, 175-179, DOI: 10.1080/09608789708570961 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09608789708570961 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly

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Page 1: Nietzschean foundations of soviet culture: Beyond good and evil

This article was downloaded by: [DUT Library]On: 09 October 2014, At: 07:34Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

British Journal for the History ofPhilosophyPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rbjh20

Nietzschean foundations of sovietculture: Beyond good and evilBoris Gubman aa Tver State UniversityPublished online: 03 Jun 2008.

To cite this article: Boris Gubman (1997) Nietzschean foundations of soviet culture:Beyond good and evil, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 5:1, 175-179, DOI:10.1080/09608789708570961

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09608789708570961

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warrantieswhatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions andviews of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. Theaccuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independentlyverified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liablefor any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly inconnection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly

Page 2: Nietzschean foundations of soviet culture: Beyond good and evil

forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 3: Nietzschean foundations of soviet culture: Beyond good and evil

BIHP 19% Review Article

NIETZSCHEAN FOUNDATIONS OF SOVIETCULTURE: BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

Boris Gubman

Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal (Ed.): Nietzsche and Soviet Culture:Ally and Adversary.Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1994. Pp. xvi + 421.ISBN 0-521-45281-3

Even the title of this book sounds provocative and shocking for aWestern reader who knows about the suppression of all forms ofideology opposed to the official Marxism in the USSR. However,the reality of cultural life is always far more complex than any pre-conceived image of this or that social system. The volume editedby Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal gives an opportunity to understandthe importance of the Nietzschean legacy for the formation anddevelopment of different layers of Soviet culture. It is based on theinterdisciplinary approach permitting the representatives of differ-ent branches of the humanities to join their efforts in the attempt tocreate the multi-dimensional picture of Nietzschean influence onSoviet cultural life.

As a prophet of a new era of culture and a thinker emphasizinghuman ability of self-transcendence and creativity, Nietzschebecame well-known in Russia in the last decade of the 19thcentury. It should be noted that Nietzsche was accepted not onlyby the admirers of his criticism of morality based on Judeo-Christian tradition, but also by religious thinkers who followedVladimir Solovyev in his interpretation of the idea of a Superman.'God-seekers' (D. Merezkovsky, N. Berdyaev, A. Bely and others)regarded Nietzsche as a thinker who paved the way for theunderstanding of human cultural creativity which should beassimilated within the renewed variant of Christianity. A Marxistsurrogate religion of the so-called 'God-builders' glorifying mass

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creativity (A. Gorky, A. Bogdanov, A. Lunacharsky) was alsoinspired by Nietzsche. Both movements were cross-fertilizing oneanother and 'interpreted Nietzsche's "will to power" as a culturalcreativity rather than coercive political power' (p. 5). These twocurrents of interpretation of Nietzsche formed the basis ofassimilation of his doctrine in Soviet culture. While the first onewas more in accord with the feelings of intellectuals, the secondone became the corner-stone of the subsequently developedprogramme for the formation of 'a new man'.

Although the official attitude to Nietzsche on the part of theSoviet authorities was hostile, his ideas were deeply rooted in thetradition of the prerevolutionary Russian culture. Tracing backNietzschean influence on Russian spiritual culture before theOctober coup, the authors of the first part of the book focus theirattention primarily on different literary schools. To struggle withthe myth that Mayakovsky is first and foremost a 'Soviet' writermeans for Bengt Jangfeldt to reveal that the young poet, like manyother Futurists, felt spiritual affinity with the German philosopherand interpreted basic themes of Zarathustra in his early works (p.38). Another Futurist V. Khlebnikov, who was the leader of theHylaea group, appealed, according to Henryk Baron, toNietzschean experimentation with language, his theories of timeand history and even proclaimed the German philosopher 'thehonorary Russian' who was close to his own poetic vision of thedecline of the West. The programme of Russian Acmeism isdifferent from the Symbolist interpretation of Nietzsche emphasiz-ing Apolonian principle over Dionisian in style and philosophy.Analysing the works of N. Gumilev., O. Mandelstam, A..Akhmatova and other representatives of this movement, ElaineRusinko comes to the conclusion that to the Acmeists 'the beautyof the phenomenal world is metaphysical truth because a livingGod is present in it, and not beyond or above it' (p. 100). Thereading of Nietzsche in the light of Theosophy and Antroposophyby 'armchair anarchists and salon Supermen' analysed by MariaCarlson gives the reader of this part of the book an idea of thespiritual climate in the elitist intellectual circles on the eve of therevolution. Unfortunately, the limits of space of the book did notpermit it to present a more broad panorama of the assimilation ofNietzsche by Russian religious thinkers who continued to work inRussia before their expulsion from the country in 1922 and

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Nietzschean Foundations of Soviet Culture 177

remained active living abroad. Some of them, like N. Berdyaev andG. Fedotov, influenced the vision of universal and Russian historyof French Catholic thinkers, others, like L. Karsavin, tried todevelop the nationally oriented Eurasian ideology and believed inits triumph after the fall of the Bolshevik rule.

The Nietzschean impulse, as revealed in the second part of thebook, inspired many initiatives in Soviet art. Describing the so-called 'theatre mania' (Viktor Shklovsky) that gripped SovietRussia during the years of the Civil War, James von Geldern comesto the conclusion that Nietzsche's guidance was evident both in therhetoric of the older generation of administrators of mass festivals(A. Lunacharsky, P. Kogan, V. Friche and V. Ivanov) and in theactivity of the young radicals representing Proletkult and avant-garde Futurism. The direct impact of Nietzsche on Russian theatrecould be traced up to the end of the NEP period. Nietzscheanmotifs are also present in Russian revolutionary literature.Gregory Freidin offers the reader a profound analysis of I. Babel'svariant of 'bolshevized Nietzsche'. The return of Pushkin as acultural hero of Nietzschean coinage to 20th century Russianculture (1899-1937) is another important problem discussed byIrina Paperno. Architecture is, perhaps, the most clear cutexpression of the spirit of culture. Milka Bliznakov reviewsNietzschean implications and superhuman aspirations in thearchitectoral avant-garde in the twenties.

In spite of the official negative reaction to the legacy of• Nietzsche, his ideas were integrated into Soviet ideology. The thirdpart of the book reveals different ways of their open and hiddenassimilation. Isabel A. Tirado reminds us about the attempts ofKomsomol avant-garde to borrow Nietzschean ideas needed forbuilding 'the temple of brotherhood, based on equality,' by youngcreator-warriors (p. 246). The goal it set for itself was, of course,inimical to the spirit of Nietzschean philosophy, and the majorityof Komsomol leaders were rather inspired by Proletkult andFuturism than by the German philosopher himself. Nietzscheanroots of the Stalinist culture are brilliantly revealed by MikhailAgursky. Prerevolutionary Bolshevik Nietzscheanism was a kindof prelude to the formation of the Stalinist culture, although thepeople like A. Lunacharsky, G. Chicherin or L. Reisner could nothave predicted the tragic outcome of their desire to radicallychange the world. The Bolshevik Dyonisism mixed with Russian

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nationalism became widespread among the fellow-travellers of theruling party glorifying its victory. When established, the nationalBolshevik dictatorship of Stalin no longer needed Dyonisianactivity of the masses. The coming of the era of a real Superman,Stalin, meant that all power emanated from him, creating otherminor supermen who were beyond good and evil. No wonder thatPanferov, Vishnevsky, Gladkov, Aleksei Tolstoy and otherStalinist Nietzscheans found the atmosphere of time in full accordwith their aspirations (p. 280). Margarita Tupitsyn gives thereader a chance to see the images of 'homo novus' speaking aboutSoviet photography and photomontage.

The fourth part of the volume is focused on the reception ofNietzschean ideas among dissatisfied writers and thinkers of theSoviet period. Their reading of Nietzsche was conditioned by theexperience of life in the totalitarian society under the surveillanceof the Superman. Edith Clowes analyses critical reconsideration ofNietzschean mythology of 'God-builders' and 'God-seekers'respectively in E. Zamiatin's We and B. Pasternak's DoctorZhivago. Neither the collective, nor the individual creativity ispossible under the iron heel of totalitarian pressure. Experiencingthe same tragic situation, O. Mandelstam, according to ClareCavanagh, tested the totalitarian power with the tool of theconscious creation of history. The presence of the Superman,Stalin, is the necessary element of the vision of culture of A. Meier,M. Bakhtin, G. Shpet and M. Bulgakov. Boris Groys cautionsagainst the interpretation of their works as a moral-politicalopposition to the official culture. His opinion is that cultural-political repression hostile to dialogical creativity 'appears as anunavoidable part of a general tragic vision of culture and the worldas a whole' (p. 387). In his 'Nobel Lecture', J. Brodsky said that inthe real tragedy 'perishes not the protagonist, but the chorus'(J. Brodsky. Izbrannye stikhi. M., 1994, p. 472). This was thecase with the feelings of those authors who were deeply alienatedfrom the official Soviet culture in spite of the differences of theirapproaches to traditional Nietzschean themes.

The problem of the assimilation of Nietzsche within theboundaries of cultures of different nationalities is discussed in thelast part of the book with the particular reference to Hebrewwriters of the Russian Empire. Reviewing the literary works ofM. Y. Berdichevsky, Y. H. Brenner, A. Ha'am, H. N. Bialik and

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other Jewish writers, who proposed different ways of nationalrevival, M. Brinker claims that Nietzsche was reinforcing theiracute awareness of a profound crisis rather than offering a definiteanswer to the problem.

Thus, the value of this book is to show the complexity of theinfluence of Nietzschean thought on the formation of Sovietculture. At the same time, many interesting issues regarding thedestiny of Nietzschean ideas in the post-Stalinist Soviet cultureremain untouched in this volume and still demand attention fromscholars. During Perestroika and the following post-Communistperiod, the revival of interest in Nietzsche became evident. In thescholarly circles, the appeal to the Postmodern was one of the mainfactors of the return to Nietzsche. It should not be overlooked alsothat Nietzsche and Spengler are among the fathers of theconservative nationalist Eurasian platform which is definitelyrelated to the European 'new right' philosophy. Fascists, conserva-tives and national Communists are united on its basis - the shadowof a Superman is still present in Russian cultural and political life.This means that the last chapter of the adventures of Nietzscheanideas in Russia has yet to be written.

Tver State University

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