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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1963)
4 D THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 21, 19(3 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON Controversy Between the Old and New Rages in Modern Russia Br ROBERT J. KORENCOLD United Press Inttmitiona.1 Moscow-lIPD-As any RusS' tan knows, the raging contro versy in the Soviet Union over modern art is not basically about art. In Its essentials it is an argument between fathers and sons, between a seaching and . questioning young generation and an old one convinced of the rlghtness of its old ways. It is an argument about authority-the authority of the Communist party over the ac tions and thoughts of its peo ple. And it is an argument be tween those who lived under Stalin and those who grew up under de-Stalinization, Bitter Conflict The controversy is bitter and not confined to the arts. It pervades the universities, the factories, the farms, indeed ' the whole country. Its roots run deep, to the very foundation and concept of a communist society. And Its outcome may very well have more influence on the future life of the Russian peo ple than a hundred notes or declarations about Berlin or nuclear testing. - The issue Is not to much whether this or that abstract painting should be put on dis play. It Is more a question of whether the old generation which controls the Commun ist party and the nation ran allow its strictures to be Ignor ed and its authority question- ed-by young abstract artists or by anyone else. In the eyes of the party such lack of discipline would be the most frightening blow to the principle by which the Soviet Union is run-an unquestioned adherence to the party line. Yet precisely this blow has been and is being struck-by the young and with shattering effect. Want Mora Frttdom In the Soviet Union as else where, the sons of the old generation, whose best known spokesmen are such "angry" young poets a a Yevgeny Yevtushenko or Andrei Vos- nesensky, want more freedom to write, to paint and in gen eral to do as they wish. The older generation wants the young to be like their fathers, to accept the party dictates, even when they de mand adherence to old social ist realist concepts in art, mus ic, literature and other fields. There are, of course, mem bers of the older generation who side with the young in their quest for more freedom than a society still emerging from the effects of three de cades under Stalin is ready to give. But the problem, as it has allies to rebel as never be- nation, is that the de-Staliniza-tion campaign has opened the door for the young and their Allies to rebel as never be fore, questioning both the authority and the correctness of their elders. This rebellion has shown up most clearly in the arts, ao RECITES POETRY-Controvcrsial Soviet Poet YcvRcny Yev tushenko, receites one of his own works at "Poetrv Dav" celebrations in Moscow. Yevtushenko is one of the younger generation's best known spokesmen in current controversy with its elders over following the Communist Party line in modern art. (UPI) Duncan Kept Busy In Committee Work In Washington, D.C. Washington-Visitors to the Nation's Capital generally list at the top of their sightseeing activities a visit to the Capitol Building. The main attraction in the Capitol is a visit to the Gal lery of the House of Repre sentatives where visitors can view their Congressmen In action To the novice spectator, this visit to the House Gallery can prove to be an exciting ex perlence-or a very dull one If the attendance of members is sparse and the day is quiet, you'll hear the "grumbles" of constituents who have come to see their Representatives at work. The answer to these conv plalnts-an answer which most visitors are unaware of - is that the work of Congress is done primarily In the commit tee rooms. On that basis, Robert B. Duncan (D-Ore.) is on his way to being one of the hardest working Congressmen on Cap itol Hill. Two full committees and eight subcommittees have kept him on the run since the assignments were made. Out of 33 new Democratic members of Congress, only seven received two committee assignments. Of these seven, only two received assignments to two major committees. Duncan is one of these, with his appointment to both Inter ior and agriculture, both im portant committees, especial ly for the Fourth District of Oregon. Duncan's subcommittee as signments on the Interior committee are irrigation, pub lic lands and insular affairs. On the Agriculture committee he has been assigned to sub committees on livestock and feed grains, wheal, family (arms, equipment, supplies and manpower and forestry. "My subcommittee assign ments on forestry, irrigation and public lands arc of great interest to me," Duncan said, "and are of vital concern to the Fourth District." He point ed out that family farms, live stock and feed grains and equipment, supplies and man power arc also of concern to his home district. "However," Duncan said, "even though wheat and in sular affairs do not have such a direct effect on the Fourth District, they do affect the country as a whole, and what is done In one area may set a precedent in others. It is therefore Important to partic ipate and contribute to de cisions in every field of Con gressional activity." Havy Commitlt Schtdule Oregon's newest Congress man has an unusually heavy committee schedule and has been spending many hours in the administrative agencies learning what they are doing and how and why. Depart ments and agencies he has vis ited include State, Navy, Air Force, Agency for Interna tional Development, arms control and disarmament, for est service, bureau of land management and bureau of reclamation. Nevertheless, he can be found on the Floor of the House of Representatives when that body is in session. II 1 s constituents probably won't have any trouble spot ting him there-even on "dull" days. I particluarly in the literary field. In poems and retorting poems, articles and retorting articles, the old and the young have been carrying on their dispute here for more than a year. In effect the young are say ing: "Times have changed. We are loyal Soviet citizens and want to be good communists. But we can be just as loyal and just as good if we paint abstract art, dance the Twist or listen to Western jazz. "You, our fathers, the old er generation, tell us to be quiet. You say you know best. But do you really? When you try to put a curb on us are you not returning to the old Stalinist ideas and ways? "You tell us now that Stalin was bad. But you lived under Stalin and you did not say so then. If you kept silent that means you supported him. And if you supported him is not the blood that he shed on your hands? "Why then, should we heed the authority of your generation?" The argument of the elders runs something like this: "You upstarts. Who are you to lecture to us or to question our experience-t e m p e r e d judgment? "It was we, and not you, who threw out the capitalists and the Germans. "It was we, and not you, who built this country into a world power. "We did it for you, but not to have you turn it into a Twist-crazy copy of all that Is decadent in the West. "You were children in dia pers during the Stalin purges. You did not then and cannot now understand what it meant to live in those times. "Yes, we honored Stalin. We believed in him. Under him and for him we worked and fought. We suffered hard ships you have not known, But with no shame. If, as we found out later, Stalin de ceived us, we are not to be blamed-and certainly not by inexperienced youngsters like you." The argument without doubt has become a major source of concern to the Soviet Communist party, right up to first Secertary Nikita Khrush chev himself. Fear that discontent In the arts would spread if uncheck ed apparently was a main reason behind the formation last fall of a special party ideological commission with energetic propaganda expert Leonid Ilyichev at its head. His task: To reestablish the party's slipping authority. So far this has meant increas ingly frequent, increasingly sharp and clearly inspired attacks in the influential press on writers, poets and other intellectuals who are deemed to have stepped too far out of bounds. Under fire in the govern ment newspaper "Izvestia" since the beginning of the year have been not only poets like Vosnesensky but such well established Soviet writ ers as Ilya Ehrenburg and Victor Nkerasov. Nekrasov was accused of what has now been laid down as a cardinal artistic sin-an "ideological coexistence" with the West. Nekrasov's error was to write g series of re flections about a trip to Amer ica in which he admittedly tried to portray the U.S. in ob jectively fair terms Instead of the usual Soviet cliches. By all indications resistance among the young and their sympathizers still is running high, however, and Id just what extent the party will bo successful in bringing the rebels to heel is not yet clear. But as one Soviet artist de scribed it: "It is like trying to put a genii back in a bottle," DAYS Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Feb. 22 -23 -24 STORE HOURS: Mon. and Fri. 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