The Criticism of „Schematism" as an Integral Part ofthe Rhetoric of Socialist Realism in the First Half of the 1950s (Discussions before the 2nd Czechoslovak Writers' Conference)

Abstract

The presented article analyses selected discussions of the first half of the 1950s which were related to the preparation of the 2nd Czechoslovak Writers´ Conference in the year 1956. At the same time it pays attention to the contemporary term known as the criticism of so-called Schematism. In the author´s opinion the formation of the term is related to the processes having its prehistory in the period when the dogmatic application of Socialist Realism was the official doctrine of the Stalinist Epoch. It cannot be seen as synonymous with the criticism of so-called Cult of Personality or the process of „acknowledging“ the period of Stalinism because the notion „Schematism“ became a part of the literary-critical discourse of those times before Stalin´s death. In this context the author makes references to the findings by B. Groys, especially to his analysis of the paradoxes of Stalin´s rule where logical statements containing no contradictions were regarded as one-sided and so invalid. The slogans such as „struggle against Schematism“ and „for greater fidelity of literature“ were a part of the contemporary language of the Stalinist Epoch and should be interpreted accordingly. They were not directly related to the criticism of Stalinism, and they did not question the aesthetical doctrine of Socialist Realism