On Proletarian Culture

[1]

Written: October 8, 1920, 1920
First Published: 1926; Published according to the manuscript
Source: Lenins Collected Works, 4th nglish dition, Progress
Publishers, !osco", 196#, $olume %1, pages %16&%1'
Translated: (ulius )at*er
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-e see 9rom Izvestia o9 October 8 that, in his address to the Proletcult
1ongress, 1omrade Lunachars>2 said things that "ere diametrically
opposite to "hat he and 3 had agreed upon 2esterda20
[2]
3t is necessar2 that a dra9t resolution 5o9 the Proletcult 1ongress7
should be dra"n up "ith the utmost urgenc2, and that it should be
endorsed b2 the 1entral 1ommittee, in time to ha,e it put to the ,ote at
this very session o9 the Proletcult0 On behal9 o9 the 1entral 1ommittee it
should be submitted not later than toda2, 9or endorsement both b2 the
1ollegium o9 the Peoples 1ommissariat o9 ducation and b2 the
Proletcult 1ongress, because the 1ongress is closing toda20
Draft Resolution
17 4ll educational "or> in the ?o,iet /epublic o9 "or>ers and
peasants, in the 9ield o9 political education in general and in the 9ield o9
art in particular, should be imbued "ith the spirit o9 the class struggle
being "aged b2 the proletariat 9or the success9ul achie,ement o9 the aims
o9 its dictatorship, i0e0, the o,erthro" o9 the bourgeoisie, the abolition o9
classes, and the elimination o9 all 9orms o9 e6ploitation o9 man b2 man0
27 @ence, the proletariat, both through its ,anguardthe 1ommunist
Part2&and through the man2 t2pes o9 proletarian organisations in general,
should displa2 the utmost acti,it2 and pla2 the leading part in all the
"or> o9 public education0
%7 4ll the e6perience o9 modern histor2 and, particularl2, the more
than hal9&centur2&old re,olutionar2 struggle o9 the proletariat o9 all
countries since the appearance o9 the Communist Manifesto has
unAuestionabl2 demonstrated that the !ar6ist "orld outloo> is the onl2
true e6pression o9 the interests, the ,ie"point, and the culture o9 the
re,olutionar2 proletariat0
47 !ar6ism has "on its historic signi9icance as the ideolog2 o9 the
re,olutionar2 proletariat because, 9ar 9rom reBecting the most ,aluable
achie,ements o9 the bourgeois epoch, it has, on the contrar2, assimilated
and re9ashioned e,er2thing o9 ,alue in the more than t"o thousand 2ears
o9 the de,elopment o9 human thought and culture0 Onl2 9urther "or> on
this basis and in this direction, inspired b2 the practical e6perience o9 the
proletarian dictatorship as the 9inal stage in the struggle against e,er2
9orm o9 e6ploitation, can be recognised as the de,elopment o9 a genuine
proletarian culture0
#7 4dhering uns"er,ingl2 to this stand o9 principle, the 4ll&/ussia
Proletcult 1ongress reBects in the most resolute manner, as theoreticall2
unsound and practicall2 harm9ul, all attempts to in,ent ones o"n
particular brand o9 culture, to remain isolated in sel9&contained
organisations, to dra" a line di,iding the 9ield o9 "or> o9 the Peoples
1ommissariat o9 ducation and the Proletcult, or to set up a Proletcult
Cautonom2C "ithin establishments under the Peoples 1ommissariat o9
ducation and so 9orth0 On the contrar2, the 1ongress enBoins all
Proletcult organisations to 9ull2 consider themsel,es in dut2 bound to act
as au6iliar2 bodies o9 the net"or> o9 establishments under the Peoples
1ommissariat o9 ducation, and to accomplish their tas>s under the
general guidance o9 the ?o,iet authorities 5speci9icall2, o9 the Peoples
1ommissariat o9 ducation7 and o9 the /ussian 1ommunist Part2, as part
o9 the tas>s o9 the proletarian dictatorship0
1omrade Lunachars>2 sa2s that his "ords ha,e been distorted0 3n that
case this resolution is needed all the more urgentl20
Endnotes
D1E 99 Lenin dre" up this dra9t resolution 9or the =irst 4ll&/ussia
1ongress o9 Pioletcult, "hich met in !osco" 9rom October # to
October 12, 19200 -hen the Political Fureau o9 the 1entral 1ommittee
o9 the Part2 discussed the Auestion o9 Proletcult on October 9 and 11, it
proceeded 9rom LeninGs dra9t resolution0 3t "as proposed to the
1ommunist group o9 the 1ongress that it pass a resolution putting
central and local Proletcult organisations under the control o9 the
PeopleGs 1ommissariat o9 ducation0 Hhe resolution "as in >eeping
"ith LeninGs ideas and "as unanimousl2 appro,ed b2 the 1ongress0
@o"e,er, a9ter the 1ongress, some Proletcult leaders began to ,oice
disagreement "ith the resolution and misinterpreted it to the ran> and
9ile, alleging that the 1entral 1ommittee o9 the 1ommunist Part2 "as
hamstringing the "or>ers in the sphere o9 the arts and aiming at
dissol,ing Proletcult0 Hhe 1entral 1ommittee o9 the Part2 re9uted these
demagogical insinuations in its letter COn Proletcult OrganisationsC
"hich ga,e a detailed anal2sis o9 Proletcult mista>es0 Hhe letter "as
published in Pra,da ;o0 2'0 on +ecember 1, 19200
D2E On October 8, 1920, 3*,estia reported Lunachars>2 as sa2ing in his
speech at the Proletcult 1ongress that Proletcult must be assured a
special status and complete autonom20 /ecalling this episode,
Lunachars>2 "rote in his reminiscencesI J4t the time oh the Proletcult
1ongress in October 1920, $ladimir 3l2ich instructed me to attend it
and pointed out Auite de9initel2 that Proletcult should be subordinated
to the PeopleGs 1ommissariat o9 ducation, should regard itsel9 as one
o9 its institutions, and so on0 3n short, he "anted us to bring Proletcult
closer to the state0 4t the same time, he too> steps to bring it closer to
the Part20 3 spo>e at the 1ongress in a rather non&committal and
conciliator2 "a2, and the ,ersion sent to $ladimir 3l2ich "as e,en
milder0 @e summoned me and ga,e me a good tal>ing&to0K