The Discussion on Literary Criticism in the Oktyabr' Magazine (1960–1961)

Section: History of Journalism

The article examines a piece of magazine controversy of the early 1960s and the history of Soviet literary criticism of the “thaw” period, namely the metacritical discussion in the October magazine. The author analyses some articles on literary criticism published during the first year after the death of F. Panferov, the magazine’s chief editor until October 1960, and his replacement by Vs. Kochetov. These articles formed the discussion on metacriticism connected to the government’s cultural policy. The article deals with the concept of metacriticism, illustrates the influence of the government’s statements on Soviet metacriticism, identifies the main issues raised in the metacritical articles of the Oktyabr' magazine and shows different points of view on those issues. In the course of analyzing the articles, the author comes to the conclusion that there might have been a connection between the metacritical discussion in the magazine and the preparations for the publication of the Third Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the press.

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