Literary oprichnina

Medinsky became the head of the Union of Writers. Why is this news much more serious than it seems?

On February 27, Vladimir Medinsky, an assistant to the President of Russia, was officially approved as chairman of the Russian Writers Union (SPR). The absolute majority, as in the memorable Soviet years, voted for: only two participants did not vote, and only one voted against - but not for political reasons, but because he would prefer to see Nikita Mikhalkov on the site. There were no alternative candidates.

Especially for Novaya Gazeta Europe, Semyon Vladimirov understands why it was necessary to appoint a Putin overseer behind the culture of the head of the ephemeral organization and what threatens literature - primarily the nursery.

Union of Non -Chasers

The appointment of Medinsky did not surprise anyone - especially since the plans of such an appointment were discussed non -publicly back in early February. Another was surprised: pro-government structures seemed to completely be shy to look absurd-Soviet. Photos from the congress published in the social networks of the SPR look comical: the elderly officials calling themselves writers, tasteless official portraits. Sergey Lukyanenko, in the signature of the photograph that flew around the book telegram, called the over -and -new congress “the old new”, but it is just right to call it “old old” - so that what is happening in the photo resembles either a meeting of the Politburo, not the meeting of the Domkom, where they decide who to give a scarce ticket to Sochi, and to whom to endure a public censure for not enough patriotic novel.

It is symptomatic that among several dozen people in the photo there are almost no women, and mostly men are strongly over forty (despite the fact that books are reading mainly women now). But it is also interesting that there were few professional writers among respected participants in the Plenum. Only the propagandists of Alexander Prokhanov and Zakhara Prilepin, Lukyanenko himself can be called such ( Sergey Minaev, Oleg Roy, Evgeny Rhine and others are also mentioned in the full list . - approx. Ed. ). But in the front row were government officials from culture: filmmakers Karen Shakhnazarov and Nikita Mikhalkov, theater director Konstantin Bogomolov, Sergey Stepashin (president of the Russian Book Union, who insisted Sorokin from the sale of the book), screenwriter of the film Nuremberg and former ex-industrial prosecutor and others. These same figures entered the board of the Sprit, and even Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) - the confessor of Putin, whose dubious book we observed, got into the secretariat.

In short, no Western values ​​to you in the form of gender and age diversity and professionalism. Even the newly elected chairman is known primarily by the fact that he himself personally did not write a single text: as the critic and publisher Alexander Gavrilov drew attention , Gostostarists always wrote for the Medine textbooks and books. His doctoral dissertation was plowed , non -existent books are mentioned in the bibliography, and his main literary merit is a series of pseudo -historical brochures “Myths of Russia”, in which historical facts are adjacent to speculations and propaganda theses. All this is rather ideological manifestos than artistic or scientific texts.

In the professional environment of Medinsky is considered an official, not a writer: a person who knows how to conduct processes, but is not able to create a meaningful text himself.

That is, even the former head of the Spirit, Nikolai Ivanov, retired colonel, pulls more to the title of the writer: at least he wrote his books. About special forces, but still.

Soon there was also the stripping of personnel: Evgeny Roizman left the SPR himself, and the Novosibirsk writer Sergei Batalov is defiantly expelled - to refuse to support the candidate of Medinsky as the chairman.

It would be possible to leave absurd in the situation in the absurd field and not discuss a new purpose. You never know, the officials increased or decreased. Political journalist Andrei Pertsev proposes to relate to the new rank of Medinsky this way:

“For the real, and not stilt literature,“ Soyuz ”is also a structure with zero significance, we don’t live in a scoop (of course, the publication, cottages, and special trowlies), and no one canceled the Internet.”

However, life in Russia and the news feed of recent years have been accustomed to the fact that what could seem absurd to someone, for another, a program of action. And the reorganization of the SPR in the Soviet way should be taken quite seriously.

The myphotrape by the throne

The priority task of the “updated” SPR is not particularly hidden - this is the redistribution of budget money in favor of servile cultural officials. At the congress, Medinsky announced that “we need an revision of the privatization of writing” - the former property of the Soviet Union of Writers and the Little Fund. These include cottages, rest houses, residences, including the super-successful independent residence of Peredelkino, which in recent years has become the main platform for modern literature and where translators and writers have been working.

The idea was warmly welcomed by Alexander Prokhanov:

“The state for the first time in thirty years drew attention to writers ... It was a good tan in the person of Vladimir Rostislavovich. The writer is poor. We walk in chips. Not like in Soviet times when the writer was a master. ” Lukyanenko echoes him : “If the writer knows that his copyright protects the Union, that there are his own houses of creativity (as it used to be), paid trips to readers - to large and small cities and villages, his awards, preferences, and even a medal with the inscription and diplomas with signature - this will help more time and effort to give creativity.”

In general, first of all - privileges, cottages and cars, and creativity - already in the second. So philologist Hasan Huseynov believes that, first of all, members of the SPR are interested in money - for lack of circulations and interests of readers:

“This is a way to switch to state financing, because no one reads these Z-poets and other rabble. They declared themselves patriotic writers, but this patriotism does not give any income. ”

Therefore, apparently, people like Mikhalkov, who are not the first time, and they are on a short leg, were included in the board of the SPR, such as Mikhalkov, who is not for the first time.

However, there is another task - ideological, which the members of the SPR also do not hide at all. The state required a centralized body of supervision of writers. And just for him Medinsky is an ideal figure.

As the Minister of Culture, Medinsky became famous primarily by ideological work. He forbade films, defended the legends of the time of the Second World War, and called those who did not agree “scum”. Under him, the monuments were erected by the participants in the war, and patriotic films began to be released in absurd quantities - at the same time equipped with traditionalist ones, as if spiritual overtones (it is not for nothing that Medinsky is known as the author of the meme “This is a biblical story, from a commentary on the film about Zoe Cosmodemyanskaya).

The associates of Medinsky from the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO) tried to rewrite the history of the tract of Sandarmokh (where hundreds of Soviet political zones were shot), while Medinsky himself transferred the culture to the category of another line of defense from NATO, which only ideologically correct people should support. In this matter, in his opinion, all means are good - even if facts can simply be invented.

“My deepest conviction is that even if this story was invented from beginning to end, even if there were no Panfilov, even if there was nothing - this is a holy legend that simply cannot be touched. And the people who do this are overdoors, ” said the historian Medinsky.

However, how much Medinsky can be considered a historian, we have already found out.

The weight of his purpose in the Span also gives the fact that he headed the Istanbul group of negotiations with Ukraine - apparently, being not just a puppet, but a representative and an interpreter of the will of the president. Apparently, as the head of the Union of Writers, he will represent the supreme power, quite officially translating the literary sphere under state control. This was already engaged in this in 2024, creating a separate body of supervision of publishing houses under the Russian Book Union. Medinsky is also part of this council.

That is, if until 2024 the restrictions in the book sphere mainly took place in the form of self -censorship at the level of publishers and censorship of libraries, now, apparently, the authorities decided to make their own analogue of the Soviet Glavlit or the Nazi imperial room of literature, which was headed by the playwright Hans Yosta, the author of the aphorism, “when I hear the word“ culture ”, I remove my browsing from the fuse”. And to whom, if not Medinsky - the author of the unified textbooks of history - to take the place of the guardian of customs in the culture and the myth -making at the throne. The Russian government finally turns into a closed caste, where each close is busy with their own business: there are court historians, there are court poets, there are jesters like Medvedev, there are heralds like Solovyov.

Medinsky will oversee the “purity of culture”, and first of all, cleansing can wait for children's literature - to which questions have already accumulated in power.

"We become insignificance"

It all started with the fact that in November, the SPR decided to conduct an “examination” of children's literature in Russia. "Expertise" found that 60% of children's books published in Russia "form negative attitudes in the behavior of children." After that, the State Duma Committee for the family applied to the government with a request to take measures, and the publishers demanded to publish the materials of this “examination”. The materials were not published in the end, but from the documents merged in specialized chats, it became clear that this is not about examination, but rather about orders - “expert” Tatyana Tsvetkova superficially walked according to the new products of the detlit and randomly stuck the labels: here, they say, they promote death, and here is desertion.

The story continued on February 6 at the industry conference "The Secret of the Children's Book", held in the analytical center under the government. On it is the head of the Council for the Children's Book under the Sprit, Nikolai Nilov, who did not publish a single book, again beat the alarm about how publishes corrupt children's souls. A book about a soldier who did not want to kill, helps to “raise traitors”, a pirate-pirate from the story of the same name is called an “elderly prostitute”, and Tatyana Tsvetkova saw the propaganda of death in a children's book about motherhood.

Nilov at the conference proposed a radical method of literary analysis:

“The book is taken and it is simply torn, glued and hung out. Nobody does this. Thanks to the technology that I developed, the following became clear: that, it turns out, the topic of children's books is very strange. ”

According to the results of the conference, self -named experts decided that modern codel is undermining scrapers and “replacing the birth memory. This erases our tribal memory, and we become insignificant. ”

This clowning could not be paid much attention if Nikita Mikhalkov had not entered into business, it seems to be a carrier of marginal and conspiracy views, but with significant resources. In his “Besogon” he stated that he got acquainted with books from the list of Nilov and confirmed his conclusions. Mikhalkov decided that with the help of a children's children in Russia they are trying to program (so far, by the way, they are more likely programmed by Mikhalkov’s programs, devoting them “conversations about the important”).

It seems that it is precisely the cleansing of the child to engage in the new "Ministry of Literature". So Medinsky in a recent interview is about the children:

“We understand that those who read books always control those who watch TV. We want the children to be smart, so that they would not be controlled, so that managers, talented people, entrepreneurs, those who move the country forward grow from them. You have to read for this. ”

To finish on a positive note, it is worth recalling that it is traditionally the trouble with censorship in Russia: books are prohibited, remove from sale, selected on the border, but they still reach the reader. But the destinies are always broken by this. In the meantime, it remains to observe how much the new censorship body under the leadership of Medinsky will be given to turn around.