Abstract: chenko died on July 22, 1958, the stigma of public disgrace that had hung over him from the time of the bitter Zhdanov denunciation of 1946 was at last removed. Although the Soviet press took scant notice of his passing, the Soviet government, in a begrudging tribute to his enduring appeal, permitted the printing (after objectionable elements had been expunged) of new editions of his stories for the first time in almost ten years. The demand for Zoshchenko's stories, especially those of his richest period, the 1920s, had never died in the Soviet Union, despite a vigorous official campaign to destroy his spirit of individualism and force him into the narrow confines of socialist realism. The new editions of his works in 1956, shortly before his death, and again in 1958 and 1960, were a response to that demand that could no longer be ignored. Zoshchenko is read today and remembered for his humor, which belongs to the great tradition of Gogol, Leskov, and Chekhov. Yet Zoshchenko was more than a humorist. His brilliant, inquisitive mind and independent spirit eagerly searched for new ideas and new forms of artistic expression. When this search became offensive to the Party and the guardians of Soviet arts, Zoschenko was forced to abandon it, at least on the surface, if he was to continue his existence as a writer. As evidence of his submission, he wrote about socialist construction, created positive heroes, satirized capitalism and the capitalist countries, and extolled the achievements of the Soviet Union. But throughout this entire period of his artistic
Publication Year: 1962
Publication Date: 1962-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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