Archive of Scientific Articles

Submitted: October 10, 2025

Abstract. The purpose of this research is to identify and explain the mechanisms by which a theatrical work was legitimized or delegitimized under the ideological pressure of Soviet totalitarian society in the mid-1930s, using the example of the critical discourse surrounding Vsevolod Meyerhold’s production of “La Dame aux Camélias” (1934). The article systematizes and interprets critical reviews published in Soviet periodicals in 1934-1935; archival materials are used. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that, for the first time, based on the material of theatrical criticism from the 1930s, it is demonstrated how aesthetic judgments about the production were transformed into instruments of political struggle, and the artistic features of the production (impressionistic style, visual metaphor, psychologism) were interpreted as signs of ideological hostility. This allows us to consider critical discourse not simply as a response to the play, but as an indicator of a deep cultural and political conflict that foreshadowed the tragic fate of the Meyerhold Theater. The research found that the polarized reaction of critics to the production reflected not only aesthetic disagreements, but also a fundamental conflict between artistic autonomy and political commission. The production, perceived as a “total artistic world”, turned out to be fundamentally incompatible with the aesthetics of socialist realism, which demanded ideological clarity and directness. This made “La Dame aux Camélias” a symbol of this conflict.

Key words and phrases: