Ways of development of Soviet fine art in the context of the polemics of V.I. Lenin and A.A. Bogdanov

We examine the philosophical differences between V.I. Lenin and the head of the Proletarian cultural and educational organizations A.A. Bogdanov. It is pointed out that after the October Revolution of 1917, their views were transformed into a discussion about the essence, foundation and tasks of proletarian culture. Previously, this topic was mainly the subject of philosophical research, but did not become part of historical research. The author of the article made an attempt to assess the influence of the ideas of V.I. Lenin and A.A. Bogdanov on the formation of various approaches to the cultural policy of the Soviet government in the 1920s. In the course of the work, historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods, traditional for historical science, were applied. The use of the sociocultural method made it possible to consider the views of party ideologists on culture as a system of values that developed before the revolution and developed in subsequent years. It was noted that at the turn of the 1910–1920s polemics of V.I. Lenin and A.A. Bogdanov went beyond the limits of private contradictions and led to the emergence of two possible trends in the development of Soviet fine arts. Conclusions were made about the approval of the official point of view on cultural policy based on the traditions of realistic art.

proletarian culture, V.I. Lenin, A.A. Bogdanov, Soviet fine arts, Proletkult, Soviet Russia