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Moscow Tribune
January 18, 2002
Modernist books under threat
By Dmitry Polikarpov
Several modern writers especially popular with young people may soon see their apartments packed with hundreds of their own books. This massive "coming home" is being planned by the pro-presidential youth movement "Iduschiye Vmeste" (Moving Together), famous for several actions held in support of President Vladimir Putin since 2000. Iduschiye Vmeste are famous for several actions held in support of President Vladimir Putin since 2000.
"In recent years, a considerable part of classical literary heritage was forced out both of book stores and people's mind by a great amount of commercial and mass consumption writings," a statement by Iduschiye Vmeste said on Thursday, inviting people to return books by modern writers in exchange for a book by Russian classical writer Boris Vasiliev, which comprises three narratives covering WWII. The book was published by the activists especially for this occasion.
The three main "targets" selected by Iduschiye Vmeste are Viktor Pelevin, Vladimir Sorokin, and Viktor Yerofeev. Pelevin, who became a literary icon for an entire generation of Russian youth in the late '90s, is mostly recognized for his one-time bestsellers Chapaev i Pustota (Chapaev and the Emptiness) and Pokolenie P (Generation P), while Sorokin is famous for his modernist novel Goluboye Salo (Blue Fat). Yerofeev, who belongs to the generation of the Soviet non-conformist writers of the '80s, became internationally known after publishing the novel Russkaya Krasavitsa (The Russian Beauty). The terms of the "exchange" allow the expansion of the list of books which can be returned, which means that several more popular commercial authors may suffer from the action.
The "exchange", which will be launched on Jan. 21, will last seven days, during which those interested may go to one of over 30 exchange points around Moscow. All the returned books will be stamped "returned to the author" and will subsequently be sent to their respective authors.
The purpose of this unprecedented action is to "make not only these writers, but also their colleagues think about what is going on with our literature and our culture."
The most recent significant action sponsored by Iduschie Vmeste was the "subbotnik" (normally unpaid work performed collectively) held on the 84th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution. Some 50,000 college students wearing identical aprons with the slogan "It is time for cleaning" collected garbage left by political rallies.
The Putin supporters were carrying signs declaring, "It is time to tidy up the country" and "Together with the president."
According to Vasily Yakemenko, leader of Iduschiye Vmeste, the action's main idea was to "get rid of the ideological rubbish and confront the chaos" that is still reigning in Russia.
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