Boris Asaf'ev and the Soviet Musicology - E-thesis

artist who tried to follow the correct path but failed 55 . Those kinds of examples were
many 56 . Nevertheless, it needs to be remembered that even the most notable and
officially approved works of socialist realism contained often double meanings and
hidden purposes. That was the case of the many works of Šostakovič. People still like to
speculate the real motives and message of his works. This means that the system wasn’t
total in that sense. However, socialist realism was a unanimous codification or an
aesthetic theory of the rulers who attempted to create a totalitarian system and to rule
over the whole culture. The system didn’t function conclusively as we can note when
considering the art products but the laws of its existence followed the totalitarian
ideology. The socialist realist cultural system was enhanced by the society that
participated in that sense in the totalitarian project.
2.2.1.2 Socialist Realism as an Ideology
The second statement is ‘socialist realism as an ideology’ as Gutkin 57 has stated. This
approach is problematic since it doesn’t take into account the totalitarian aspect of the
concept or see it as a monolithic system which was certainly one of its qualities. I see
that socialist realism functioned as an ideology only at a theoretical level and only as
one of the goals of the high Stalinist culture. However if one looks at the practice, i.e.
socialist realist artworks, the statement becomes complex. Should they be viewed as
products of some ideological thinking?
Gutkin 58 writes rightfully that behind the socialist realism there was a set of concepts
and views, such as ‘utopia about a new society or a new man’ which different avantgarde
branches shared together. However, I see that the shared views were related to the
formation of socialist realist aesthetics but not necessary to the ready made theory in
itself because in a ready made concept it reached a totalitarian form, i.e. ‘a means to
55
See Herrala 2002.
56
See for example the article by Nicholas Reyland ”Engineering the Soul” (2001), which is concentrated
in Lutoslawskij’s difficulties in Poland, where the musicological sphere was dominated by one of the
most famous Polish communist musicologists Sofia Lissa. “[T]hey could never be sure if the music
would be condemned or rewarded – however hard they were trying.” (Reyland 2001, p. 2.)
57
Gutkin 1999, p. 2.
58
See Ibid.
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