Proletkult during the Lenin Era

Who promoted Prolekult as a cultural policy?

• Alexander Bogdanov→ A leading figure in the party

• Anatoly Lunacharsky → the head of the Commissariat of Enlightenment

What was the main aim of Prolekult?

Bogdanov wanted a group of proletarian artists for whom art was to serve a social and political purpose.

What were constructivists?

Those who wished to create new proletarian culture based on the worker and the industrial technology

What were workers and peasants encouraged to do?

Produce their own culture from writing their own stories to putting on theatre productions

Give an example of a Prolekult magazine

‘Smithy’ which contained poems about machines and factories

What did the government use to develop the proletarian culture?

• Festivals which people were encouraged to attend with extra food rations as incentives

• The anniversary of the Revolution in 1920 was celebrated with a re-enactment of the Storming of the Winter Palace

• Parades through the Red Square in Moscow

What did Prolekult challenge?

High culture: art forms such as ballet, opera and fine art that are geared towards a restricted and exclusive audience

How did the governments view of Prolekult change during the early 1920s?

They were concerned with the variety of viewpoints expressed through the culture from the people and started to impose restrictions on it.