Socialist realism
Socialist realism was a politically-oriented style of 20th century art intended to glorify socialism and the struggles of the working classes. It was particularly promoted in the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China during the rule of Mao Tse-tung.It was officially adopted in 1934 at the Congress of Soviet Writers. Socialist realism, designed and approved by Nickolai Bukharin, Maxim Gorky and Andrei Zhdanov, held that successful art depicts and glorifies the proletariat's struggle toward socialist progress. The art produced under socialist realism is realistic, optimistic, and heroic.
The purpose of socialist realism was to elevate the common worker, whether factory or agricultural, by presenting his life, work, and recreation as admirable. In other words, its goal was to educate the people in the goals and meaning of Communism. In practice, socialist realism demanded close adherence to party doctrine, and has often been criticized as detrimental to the creation of true, unfettered art. In effect, Soviet socialist realism often functioned as little more than a means to censor artistic self-expression, sacrificing the individual for the good of the state. Western critics sometimes wryly encapsulate the principles of socialist realism as 'Girl meets Tractor.'
The period after the Russian Revolution and before the creation of the Union of Soviet Writers has often been praised for its spirit of tolerance. In art, constructivism flourished. In poetry, the nontraditional and the avante-garde were often praised. Socialist realism changed all this. Painting subjects were limited to the glorification of communist ideals or communist leaders, especially Joseph Stalin.
The 'realism' part is important. Soviet art at this time depicted the Russian worker as he truly was, carrying his tools. In a sense, the movement mirrors the course of American and Western art, where the everyday human being became the subject of the novel, the play (Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman), poetry, and art (Andy Warhol comes to mind). The proletariat was at the center of communist ideals; hence, his life was worthy subject for study. This was an important shift away from the aristocratic art produced under the Russian tsars of previous centuries.
Maxim Gorky's novel, Mother, is usually considered to have been the first work of socialist realism. Gorky was also a major factor in the school's rapid rise, and his pamphlet, On Socialist Realism, essentially lays out the needs of Soviet art. Other important works of literature include Fyodor Gladkov's Cement (1925) and Mikhail Sholokhov's two volume epic, And Quiet Flows the Don (1934) and The Don Flows Home to Sea (1940).
However, as a result of the rigid precepts of this school of art, many artists and authors found their works censored, ignored, or rejected. Mikhail Bulgakov, for instance, was forced to write his masterwork, The Master and Margarita, in secret, despite earlier successes such as White Guard. Sergey Prokofiev found himself essentially unable to compose music during this period.
Socialist realism as an official school of art dominated Soviet art until the late 1980s. The doctrines of socialist realism were most strongly enforced in the period immediately following World War II, but were somewhat relaxed after Stalin's death in 1953.