THE ORIGIN OF SOCIALIST REALISM IN RUSSIA AND CHINA

This review essay was prepared following the 100th year anniversary of the Russian Revolution coinciding as it did with the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The book that the review essay revolves around is the memoir by the prominent Uruguayan poet Roberto Echavarren based on his recent on-site research in Russia. The topic I believe is timely as it addresses the problems of literary and artistic expression under exceptional conditions. This year, in China, these controversies that the Russian Revolution gave birth to are on center stage. The upcoming 100th year anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party, in less than two years, will call attention to these issues again.