Social Realism or Social Romanticism, Research Paper Example

Socialist realism refers to a type of realistic art, which was developed in the Soviet Union and ended up becoming a dominant or common style in several other socialist nations. It included paintings from several famous artists and other crucial and common artworks. Its orientation of the style was teleological in nature since its main purpose included specifically the furtherance and facilitation of various aims of communism as well as socialism. Social realism, on the other hand, mainly portrayed various subjects involving social concern. Socialist realism remained the officially and generally accepted form or style of architecture. Virtually all the material goods that were produced embraced socialist realism. Various artworks formed the basis many artistic studies, which later led to the use of this style as propaganda tool in many socialist states like Germany, Czechoslovakia, France, and Poland. Analyses of the various historical events and the development of socialist realism lead to the conclusion that social realism was indeed a foundation for many literary productions in many socialist countries. A typical example of such is the book “How the Steel was tempered.” This essay aims at providing a clear analysis on how the socialist realism influenced literary production using the book as an example. Besides, the paper will also discuss the four basic elements of socialist realism (proletarian, typical, partisan and realistic).

“How the steel was tempered” is a novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky. The book has a lot of relevance and prominence in the Soviet literature history. The book talks about the valor crowning of life of an hero referred to as Bolshevik.There are several features of socialist realism in the poem. First, in Patel Korchagin, readers can easily detect the level at which the author like his creator. Pavel is his hero and his affinity to his hero is so strong that it can only be related to the common socialist realism literature where most writers and artists give more credit and attention to their hero characters. In short, the creative and private lives of both the author and the hero formed a single organic whole subordinated to people’s service. This forms a feature very common with the Soviet writers (Nikolai 35). The feature lends a given level of convincing ability and veracity to different characters they portray to the readers. The heroes portrayed in various books or artworks were relevant to the workers and always understandable to them. The artists and writers themselves made this possible.  In other words, the artworks were proletarian in nature thus making it easier and possible for readers and viewers to conclude that the socialist realism contributed a lot to literary production due to the creation of certain ideas such as main characters who were the heroes (Oleg 86). Essentially, Socialist realism paved ways for the development of literature in areas where it was practiced.

The novel also depicts people’s struggle and fight for socialism furnishing the background of the plot and the destinies of various heroes and labor and the transformation of different characters due to labor. In most cases, the author tries to depict various forms of life existing in socialist nations. For instance, he tries to give a connection between labor and artistry. There heroes being depicted in the form of workers and laborers in farms and other stations of employment. With this, he tries to show how socialist realism led to the creation of different characters that formed the basic features of traditional or early literature based in Eastern and European world. The author also gives an elaboration on the fact that political double dealing are inseparable from the private life moral dissipation (Nikolai 64). Through this, he reveals the existing coarse construction that has been placed upon the various sexual relationships by enemies. A typical example is Pavel and his friends who exact the moral purity in friendship and love. Love and friendship as a theme runs through the entire novel and has been given the necessary special prominence in certain scenes like the meeting between Tonya and Pavel, as well as, that of Rita and Seryozha. The element of socialist realism present in this part is that of love as a crucial theme in many of the artistic work depicted by various socialist realism artists. In essence, the author shows some level of realism in his work, that is, the work is realistic.  For instance, artists in China and Russia shows a lot regarding the theme of love. Other types of artistry also reveal the same theme. An illustrative case is an art comprising a man and a woman standing together holding flowers. Such artworks, evident in museums in Germany and other regions in Europe have their sources or origin from socialist realism. Such arts are common in many places. This theme typical as they form the scenes of everyday life in Europe and some parts of Asia (Oleg 86).

Lastly, the author talks of the German commanders taking up quarters in the building, which was formerly used by the city administration following the revolution of various soviet workers. He also mentions a sentry with a pared helmet. In this case, the author tries to bring the aspect of nationalism and loyalty among Germans after the war. In short, he brings about the socialist realism aspect of partisan in the novel (Nikolai 51).

Work Cited

Oleg Sopontsinsky, Art in the Soviet Union: Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, p 6 Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad, 1978. Print.

Nikolai Ostrovsky. How the Steel was Tempered. New York, NY: SAGE Publishers, 2008. Print.