302 politics ceptive,experimental,mentalyaliveindividualsandso threatenStalin'sbureaucracydespitetheirearnestwishnotto. Anotherdifficultyisthatseriousartists,especiallyinastill primitivecountrylikeRussia,naturallyareinfluencedbythe ideasandtechniquesofmoreadvancedcountries.Thereisa spontaneousinternationalismaboutgoodart.Thecurrent campaignagainst"alien"Westerninfluencesisthemostex- tremebutbynomeansthefirstsuchsince1929.AsInoted in1939:"Itwaspreciselythisinternationalcharacterofthe EisensteincinemathatmostalarmedtheKremlin. If the masesaretoacceptthepresenttotalitariandictatorshipas afullyrealizedsocialistsociety,theymustbecutofffrom contactwithmoreadvancedcultures.Andso,inthelast tenyears,theSovietUnionhasbeenslowlyisolated. . .This campaignisdesignedtoreinforce,nottocombat,thosechar- acteristicdefectsofbackwardcultures:provincialsmugness, theignorantacceptanceof inferior,banalartformsas `healthy'and'normal,'andacorespondingsuspicionofmore advancedforms.Thisiswhat,esthetically,thetheoryof `SocialismInOneCountry,'hasmeant."Thereisanadded motivetoday:toprepareforwaragainsttheWest,anda warinwhichtheSovietUnionwillbealoneexceptfora fewsmallsatelitenations.Inthe"collectivesecurity"period andafterGermanyhadattackedherin1941,Russialooked ontheWesternpowersasalies,potentialandthenactual. Herculturalpolicy,therefore,couldnotreachthedegreeof hermetismit isnowataining.Eisensteinmade Nevsk.y in 1938and Ivan wasprojectedandlargelyfinishedduringthe warperiod.Forallitsfaults,theformerisasophisticated film,andextremely"formalistic"inthestylizationofcostumes,actingandsetingandintheelaboratecompositionof eachindividualshot.It isnotatallthesortofhome-grown provincialfilm—ablendofstodgyrealismandnaivemelo- drama—wegeneralygetfromRussiathesedays.When CultureandLife,therefore,criticisesIvantheTerribleforits "failuretoportraycontemporaryreality"andits"coldand pasoinelshistoricism"andcalsforfewerfilmsaboutliterary andhistoricalfiguresandmoreabout"thesimpleSovietpeoplewhoaretherealcreatorsofhistory,"onecanassumethat evenaSovieteditorwouldnotcriticizeahistoricalfilmfor notdealingwithcontemporarylife,andthatwhatismeant isthatthestylized,ornatetechniqueofthefilmisnowconsidered"formalistic,""decadent"and"Western."It isalso justpossiblethatEisensteintookadvantageofthehistorical pageanttoescapefromthatContemporaryRealitywhichboth Russianartistsandaudiencesseemtowishtoforget.This suggestsinturnanotherspeculation,whichthereisnospace todevelop,namely:whyisit thatthedominantclassesin Americafeedthemasesdreams,romance,"escape"culture whiletheirpeersinRussiaadoptjusttheoppositepolicy, althoughbothhavethesameendin view? WITHTHEMARXICOLOGISTS:PaddedCellDept. Inthesitdownstrikesof1935-7,theAmericanworkingclassdemon- stratedthatitwasstrivingtoraiseitselftothelevelofthetasksimposeduponitbyhistory,thatistosay,tocreateasocialistsociety. Sincethattime, ithasmovedwithgiganticstridesuntiltodayinits mostadvancedsectionsitchallengesthebourgeoisideasofproduc- tion,distributionandexchangeonanationalscaleandbacksup theseconceptionswithamany-milionedstrike.Thisunprecedented radicalizationof agiantworkingclass. . . Norevolutionarytoday candenythepossibilitythattwoyearsfromtodaytheAmerican proletariatcouldcoverthenationwithsoviets. JamesR.Johnson,inthe"Buletin" oftheWorkersParty,Feb.28,1946. BibliotecaGinoBianco OfficeofFactsandFigures Abilionandahalfdolarsisalotofmaney.#Itis,forex- ample,whatthewomenoftheUSAspentlastspringfornew Easterhatsanddresses.It isalso,forexample,$150,000,- 000morethanthetotalUScontributiontoUNRRAforthe year1946. TheNationalUrbanLeaguereportsthatinthecityof NewYorkthereare300Negropainters,260Negrocarpenters,22Negrolicensedelectricians,6Negroplumbers,and 2Negroplasterers.Progressiveswillbepleasedtoknowthat theNewYorkbuildingtradesarealmost100%unionized. TheParisianpaper,LeMonde,ofMarch8last,statesthat captureddocumentsnowinthehandsoftheFrenchauthoritiesrevealthatduringtheoccupation240,000Frenchmen andwomenappliedforGermancitizenship.Noreliablefigures existastohowmanyactivelytookpartintheResistance,but 240,000wouldbeagenerousestimate. rahtheabove,cf.theU.S.Armyestimateofthenumber ofJapanesecitizensimprisonedonpoliticalchargesduringthe war.Thefigureisonemilion(1,000,000). (N. Y.Times Dec.21,1945.) PapershavebeenfiledintheSurrogate'sCourtinPough- keepsie,N.Y.,inconnectionwithtransfertaxesontheestate ofalatelydeceasedlocalcitizen.Hisname:FranklinDelano Roosevelt.Thegrossvaluationofhisestate:$1,821,887. ThevitalstatisticsontheNurenberg"War-Guilt"Trials areasfoloDwasy:sconsumed2 8 4 Wordsspoken5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 Record(no.pages)1 5 , 0 0 0 Originaldocuments3 , 0 0 0 Afidavits 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 Propagandavalue Justicedone OnAugust3,Dr.Galup'sinvestigatorsaskedtheAmerican people:"Whatdoyouthinkwillbethemostimportantproblemfacingthiscountryduringthenextyear?"87%ofthe answersputsomedomesticproblemfirst(inflation,foodshortage,housing,etc.);10%putfirst"maintenanceofpeaceand conductingforeignaffairs";3%putfirsttheatombomb. Theseanswersindicatethat,asthisjournalhasfrequently maintained,Americansarestillaprovincialpeople,inadequate foreitherworldempire,worldgovernmentorinternational socialism. KonigsberginEastPrussiawasfoundedin1255;thelast ninekingsofPrussiawerecrownedthere;itisthe"holycity" ofPrussianjunkerdom.Itspresentname:Kaliningrad. WhenKingGeorgeIIlandedonGreeksoil,returningfrom exile,thepressrecordedforhistoryhisfirstwords.Theywere: "ForthelatterpartofSeptember,youarehavingfineweather, aren'tyou?"
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTExMDY2NQ==