Alexander Zinoviev: An Introduction to His Work

284 Pages·1993·25.3 MB·English

by  Michael Kirkwood (auth.)

ALEXANDER ZINOVIEV: AN INTRODUCTION
TO HISWORK
Also by Michael Kirkwood and published by Palgrave Macmillan
ALEXANDER ZINOVIEV AS WRITER AND THINKER (editor with Philip
Hanson)
LANGUAGE PLANNING IN THE SOVIET UNION (editor)
Alexander Zinoviev
Alexander
Zinoviev: An
Introduction
to His Work
Michael Kirkwood
Senior ucturer in Russian
School oj Slavonic and East European Studies
University oj London
M
© Michael Kirkwood 1993
Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1993
All rights reserved. No reproduction. copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
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issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London W 1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be Iiable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1993 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS L TD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-12485-5 ISBN 978-1-349-12483-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-12483-1
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Typeset by Ponting-Green Publishing Services
Sunninghill, Berkshire
For Alexander Zinoviev, my friend and
(unwitting) mentor
Contents
List 0/ Abbreviations Vlli
Introduction IX
Part One Prolegomena
1 Homo Sovieticus 3
2 Zinoviev's Style and Language 29
Part Two The Brezhnev Era
3 Ziiaiushchie vysoty 61
4 Svetloe budushchee 89
5 Zheltyi dom 114
6 Kommunizm kak real'nost' 148
Part Three The Gorbachev Era
7 Gorbachevizm 173
8 Katastroika 196
9 Konets kommunizma? 221
Notes 248
BibliolJ'aphy 257
Index 263
Vll
List of Abbreviations
G Gorbachevizm
ING Idi na Golgofu
IS Il superpotere in URSS
K Katastroika. Povest' 0 perestroike v Partgrade
KKR Kommunizm kak real'nost'
MDMCh Moi dom - moia chuzhbina
SB Svetloe budushchee
TGF The Grand Failure
TM The Madhouse
TRC The Reality of Communism
TRF The Radiant Future
VPR V preddverii raia
YH The Yawning Heights
ZhD Zheltyi dom
ZV Ziiaiushchie vysoty
viii
Introduction
This is not a book in the 'life and works of' mould.
Zinoviev's output to date, not counting his professional
work, occupies over a metre of the shelf space in my study.
This volume will take up probably less than three centi
metres. A full discussion of his work in one volume is quite
obviously impossible. I have essayed a partial discussion of
so me of his work.
I have been prompted to write this book by an awareness
of the fact that Zinoviev is undervalued, both as a writer and
as a commentator on Soviet affairs. He is a 'difficult' writer
who makes great cognitive demands on his readers and also
a writer who constantly broadcasts his opinion of Western
Soviet studies scholarship by dismissing it in toto. Not surpris
ingly, he has been virtually ignored by the vast majority of
Western Sovietologists. This is a major source of concern to
me, for Zinoviev has contributed more to my understanding
of the Soviet Union than the rest of Russian literature and
Soviet studies scholarship put together. I do not exaggerate.
Given the constraints of space, I have been obliged to be
highly selective in my treatment of this writer. Of the
various approaches which I could have adopted (thematic,
chronological, genre-based, biographical) I have chosen a
combination of the chronological and the genre-based. The
reasons for my choice were dictated by the readership I had
in mind.
The book has been written for people who have a good
command of Russian and who are interested, professionaBy
or otherwise, in the Soviet Union and how it works. With the
exception of the first two chapters, each chapter examines
an individual book. An English translation for aB of these
books bar Konets kommunizma? (The End of Communism?) is,
or shortly will be, available. I earnestly recommend, how
ever, that the works should be read in their original Russian
version if at aB possible. Given the fantastic rate at which
developments in the Soviet Union are taking place, it
seemed to me important that I should present Zinoviev's
views on these events. That consideration partly explains
IX