S. G. Sizov
sizov-omsk@yandex.ru
The Siberian State Automobile and Highway University, Omsk, Russian Federation
Reconstruction of a party intellectual worldview in the early 1920s: Boris Leonov and his literary works
Abstract: In the article, the author conducts a historical and psychological reconstruction of the worldview of the party intellectual of the 1920s. Little-known manuscripts of works of art by Boris FyodorovichLeonov were chosen as a source for analysis. During this period, he held low-ranking positions being actively engaged in political,educational, cultural and awareness-raisingwork in the townof Oryol. Poems and plays by Boris Leonov reflected the complexity of the socio-political situation in the country after the Civil War. Particularly valuable observations of the young writer concern the mood of the intelligentsia in the early 1920s. The literary works of Leonov testify to how complex and contradictory the inner world of the party intellectual was. Hopes for a brighter future were combined with disappointment in the activities of the party. Leonovfeared that he would not be able to find a place in the new society, and with good cause. To a certain extent, he foresaw his future tragedy (long-term camps and exile). Boris stuck to the party, because only in this way could he approve himself in the field of literature and art. And this is what he dreamed of all his life. Later, the system rejected him, and these works (many years after they had been written) became material evidence of ‘‘anti-Soviet activity’’.
Keywords: intelligentsia, literature, Russian Communist Bolshevik Party, All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, 1920s, Oryol, political enlightenment, cultural enlightenment, education.
Paper submitted: February 1, 2023.
For citation: Sizov S. G. (2023) Reconstruction of a party intellectual worldview in the early 1920s: Boris Leonov and his literary works. Russian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 28–39. DOI: 10.57015/issn1998-5320.2023.17.3.3.
