Proletkult's Writer Project of 1918-1921 as a Creative Utopia

This study investigates the activities of Proletarian Cultural-Educational Organizations (Proletkult) as a creative utopia. It explores issues related to the homogeneity of utopian, mythological, and aesthetic thinking. The sources include periodicals published by Proletkult. For the first time, data is introduced into scholarly circulation that allows interpreting Proletkult projects as precursors to contemporary inquiries in the field of creative industries. Attention is given to how the creativity of proletkult members continued the search for a “Russian Renaissance” as a modernist utopia reconstructing the romantic type of creation, within which literature appeared as a form of neo-religion. The authors argue that this attitude towards literature reflects the Russian cultural code. The study raises questions about such qualities of the Russian cultural code as the special status of literature as an arena for truth-seeking and the perception of language as demiurgic logos. It is demonstrated that through their myth-making, proletkult members not only propagated proletarian culture but also created a neoreligion based on the cult of the proletariat as a collective messiah. The novelty of the research lies in its retrospective approach to creativity through analysis of Proletkult’s activities, which provided a powerful impetus for the development of mass amateur creativity among the people during the early years of Soviet Republic.

Russian Renaissance, Creativity, Proletarian Culture, Proletkult, Mythmaking, Amateur Artistic Activity