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,"
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