Soviet “Humanism”: The Theme of Overcoming Human Suffering in A.M. Gorky and M.M. Zoshchenko

Abstract

Despite the stereotype of opposing the creative genius to the authorities A.M. Gorky and M.M. Zoshchenko were loyal to the Soviet ideology for a long period of time. Realizing the importance of literature as a non-violent method of ideas spreading and responding to the utopian hope of world transformation by the power of collectivity, they explored ways to overcome human suffering, considering this victory implementable through social transformations or scientific and technological progress in power of man. A.M. Gorky was reflecting the cruelty of life in Russian villages and a city slum for a long time. He paid much attention to the image of a fighter against suffering. One finds examples of such fighters among the heroes of Gorky’s novel Mother (1907), which was canonized by the Soviet authorities as a personification of the human ideal. They are endoewed with such dignities as benevolence, self-sacrifice, simplicity, gift for speaking, etc. In the like manner Gorky described Vladimir Lenin in an essay presented on the occasion of his death. However, Lenin was also depicted as a politician who had to use violence for the sake of  future generations’ happiness. Gorky almost justified violence and even considered it as  inevitable as a means against suffering even at the cost of  its victims. In 1940 responding to Gorky's call to “ridicule suffering” M.M. Zoshchenko creates “Before Sunrise,” a self-introspection story in which he explores his own ability to feel unhappiness.  The text imitates the science-focused atmosphere of the 1930s. He concludes that it is possible and necessary to consciously control the “lower floor” of the psyche, which includes fears, early conditioned reflexes and another, often unconscious, shadows” that affect a person’s behavior, including manifestations of cruelty and the ability to experience suffering. With this control it is possible to achieve health as a calm acceptance of the natural and social order, which is more important than a personal experience. Both writers show an undeniable desire to end human suffering and both admit the secondary importance of the suffering of an individual human being in comparison with the common good.