Bogdanov, Aleksandr.

[PROLETKULT MOVEMENT – BOGDANOV] Elementy proletarskoi kul'tury v razvitii rabochego klassa: lektsii, prochitannye v Moskovskom Proletkul'te vesnoiu 1919 g. [Elements of proletarian culture in the development of the working class: lectures read at Moscow Proletkult in the spring of 1919].

First printing. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo, 1920. Octavo (23 × 15.4 cm). Original printed wrappers; 96 pp. Uncut and unopened. Very good. Item #54125

A collection of lectures on proletarian culture by one of the founders of the Proletkult movement, the polymath scientist, theorist, writer, and politician Aleksandr Bogdanov (1873–1928). A Communist Revolutionary, in 1903 Bogdanov co-founded the Bolshevik party with Vladimir Lenin, whom he rivalled for influence. In 1909, he created a further splinter group within the Communist party, “Vpered” (1909–1912) in which Bogdanov et al. propagated the notion of “proletarian culture” for the first time and proposed the creation of experimental proletarian universities to counteract the intelligentsia's desertion of the party. In this period Bogdanov also wrote two ground-breaking science-fiction novels, Red Star (1908) and Engineer Menni (1913), which creatively combined Marxist theses with his own notions of “Proletarian Culture” and organization.

Bogdanov’s ideas on Proletarian Culture led to the creation of Proletkult (1917–1920) which sought to create a genuinely proletarian cultural sphere for the new Soviet state. At the time of this volume’s publication in 1920, Proletkult was at its peak of activity, numbering over eighty thousand active members enrolled in hundreds of factory groups and local clubs, engaged in creating visual art, theatre, literature, music etc.. Despite its proletarian underpinnings, Proletcult had a difficult relationship with the Bolsheviks because it sought independence from the state, and was dissolved under pressure from Lenin by the end of 1920.

Scarce in the trade, as works by Bogdanov were later confiscated and removed from circulation. As of May 2024, KVK, OCLC show copies at seven institutions in North America (Yivo Institute, University of Chicago, Princeton, Wisconsin, Urbana Champaign, Concordia, Indiana).

Price: €400.00

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