by James Millar
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carr, Edward Hallet. (1952). A History of Soviet Russia: The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923, vol. 2. New York: Macmillan. Medvedev, Zhores A. (1987). Soviet Agriculture. New York: W. W. Norton. Nove, Alec. (1982). An Economic History of the USSR. New York: Penguin.
STEPHEN K. WEGREN
PRODRAZVERSTKA
Grain requisitions from peasant households by the Soviet state during the period of war communism (1918-1921). These grain requisitions were compulsory, although official policy stated that food deliveries were to come from peasant surpluses of food. In reality, state policy took two main forms: very low prices paid to peasants for their grain, so that the requisition essentially amounted to confiscation; or outright confiscation of all the grain possessed by the peasantry, with no payment. The policy of grain requisition was used as an instrument of class warfare in the countryside, setting poor and middle peasants against rich peasants, the so-called kulaks. The policy of prodrazverstka was bitterly opposed by the vast majority of peasants and led to widespread violence in the countryside against the committees of poor peasants (kombedy) that worked for the Soviet state to seize grain that was being hoarded by peasant households. In response to the confiscation of their grain, peasant households drastically reduced the acreage cultivated and the amount of grain produced, which led to mass starvation and famine throughout the nation.
Grain requisitions were replaced with a food tax during the period of the New Economic Policy (1921-1928). However, prodrazverstka was rein-troduced during the collectivization drive of the 1930s and expanded to include not only grains but other food commodities as well. The policy of food requisitions became an integral part of the planned economy, evolving into a system of state orders (goszakazy) in which state and collective farms were required to sell defined volumes of their production to state procurement agents, such as state-owned food processors, at state-regulated prices. State orders remained in effect until the end of the Soviet Union. See also: AGRICULTURE; PEASANTRY; PRODNALOG
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carr, Edward Hallet. (1952). A History of Soviet Russia: The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923, vol. 2. New York: Macmillan.
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Medvedev, Zhores A. (1987). Soviet Agriculture. New York: Norton. Nove, Alec. (1982). An Economic History of the USSR. New York: Penguin.
STEPHEN K. WEGREN
PRODUCTION SHARING AGREEMENT
A Production Sharing Agreement is made between two or more independent enterprises and/or government agencies that specifies the way in which and for what period of time the signatories will share in the output of a particular commodity.
The production sharing agreement (PSA) offers an alternative to the joint venture as a way for two or more economic entities to collaborate on the development and production of a commodity. Russian officials and business entrepreneurs have been reluctant to allow foreign firms to acquire direct ownership and managerial control over domestic resources and firms. The Russian government has also been reluctant to privatize valuable domestic resources completely, especially with respect to oil and gas reserves and companies. The PSA is the principal way for foreign firms to invest in Russia and for the Russian government to maintain a degree of control over valuable resources. Under a standard form of PSA, the entity that invests in a development project is the first to capture the investment from revenues generated by the forthcoming output.
The Russian Duma has been reluctant to condone foreign ownership, or, in some cases, even foreign participation in the economy. Legislation governing PSAs was not passed in the Duma until late 1998 under the government of Yevgeny Primakov. In certain fields PSAs must be approved by the Duma. In the oil and gas industries, the PSA is the single most important form of collaboration between the government and the oil companies and with foreign oil and gas companies as well. See also: FOREIGN TRADE; PRIMAKOV, YEVGENY MAXI-MOVICH
PROKOFIEV, SERGEI SERGEYEVICH
(1891-1953), composer and pianist, one of the most important figures of the early Russian modernism, later of Socialist Realism.
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev studied at the Petersburg conservatory from 1904 to 1914. By 1915 he was already one of the outstanding figures of modern Russian music. In his early works, Prokofiev employed new modes of expression while audibly referring to the musical language of the late nineteenth century. Prokofiev followed various stylistic courses. He was known as a radical exponent of provocative new music and also distinguished himself through his neoclassical experiments. Later he would be known precisely for his synthesis of the unusual and the familiar, of complexity and simplicity, of constructive rationality and melodious emotionalism.
In 1918, hoping for greater artistic perspectives, Prokofiev left Russia for the United States. After mixed experiences there, he left in 1922 to settle in Paris. Prokofiev was not a “classical” emigrant: He assumed Soviet citizenship in 1924 and often travelled to the Soviet Union to give concerts. Finally, in 1936, the artist returned to Russia with his family. His decision can be attributed to a deep longing for his home country, a diffuse sympathy for the political developments there, a marked interest in the privileged position of an exceptional artist in the Soviet state, and a sense of invulnerability. It was not difficult for Prokofiev to fulfil the ideological standards of “Socialist Realism,” given the melodious simplicity of his work. He had long ago given up his futuristic inclinations and instead tried to realize a new rhythmic-motoric, tonally tense, poignant style. Yet in 1948 even Prokofiev was severely criticized by the Soviet government, which perceived “formalistic distortions and antidemocratic tendencies” in the works of leading Soviet composers. Prokofiev criticized himself, and until his death (on the same day as Stalin’s) he attempted to reconcile his own stylistic conceptions with the party line. See also: MUSIC; SOCIALIST REALISM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gregory, Paul R., and Stuart, Robert C. (2001). Russian and Soviet Economic Performance and Structure. New York: Addison-Wesley.
JAMES R. MILLAR
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jaff?, Daniel. (1998). Sergey Prokofiev. London: Phaidon. Robinson, Harlow L. (1987). Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography. New York: Viking.
MATTHIAS STADELMANN
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PROKOPOVICH, FEOFAN
(1681-1736), prelate, philosopher, writer, and liaison between the Russian Orthodox Church and Protestantism.
Born to a merchant family in Kiev but orphaned early, Feofan received an education at the Kiev Academy, one of the few institutions for ecclesiastical education at the time. Like other gifted students of the time, he nominally converted to the Uniate (Eastern Catholic) faith in order to qualify for studies in Rome-in his case, at a Jesuit institution, the College of St. Athanasius. In 1701 he left Rome, imbued with a profound animosity toward Catholicism and, his critics would later charge, uncritical fondness for Protestantism. In any case, in 1702 he returned to Kiev with an exceptionally strong training in philosophy and theology. After repudiating his Catholic faith of convenience, he embarked on a brilliant career in the Russian Orthodox Church. He first made his mark at the Kiev Academy, where he became not only its rector but also a prolific writer, his works including a five-act “tragicomedy” Vladimir that ridiculed paganism and superstition. In 1709, in the presence of Peter, he delivered a sermon celebrating the Russian victory at Poltava; such perorations caught the emperor’s eye, earned him a summons to St. Petersburg, and led to his elevation to the episcopate (first in 1718 as the bishop of Pskov, and then in 1720 as archbishop of Novgorod).
During these years Feofan became one of Peter’s more erudite ideologists and propagandists. Drawing upon European political theory and exalting the just and creative power of the ruler, Fe-ofan was a principal architect of Peter’s new conception of dynamic autocracy. Feofan played a key role in composing a number of state documents, from the “Preface” to the Naval Charter (1719) t
o the famous Truth about the Monarch’s Will (1722), defending Peter’s right-and duty-to override custom and designate the most qualified person as his successor. Feofan also served as a key liaison with the Protestant world, reinforcing the suspicions of contemporaries and impelling Orthodox historians to dismiss him as a mere “Protestant.” By far his most important work was the Ecclesiastical Regulation (1721), drafted at Peter’s behest. Significantly, this critical document-which served as the institutional charter of the Russian Church until 1917-contained much more than a mere justification of Peter’s decision to replace the patriarchate with a collegial board (first called the Spiritual College but renamed the Holy Synod). Namely, the Ecclesiastical Regulation adumbrated an ambitious program to bring enlightenment and extinguish superstition in the Church, chiefly by improving ecclesiastical administration, establishing seminaries to educate parish clergy, and extirpating superstition among the laity. Feofan played a key role in the new Synodal administration and, simultaneously, authored several important works, including a treatise on the patriarchate, a catechism, and a tract critical of monasticism.
Peter’s death in 1725 initially left Feofan vulnerable to a concerted attack by conservatives, but in 1730 the astute prelate once again gained favor by siding with the new monarch, Anna, against a coterie of magnates seeking to limit her authority. He thus enjoyed considerable influence in church affairs until his death on September 8, 1736. See also: HOLY SYNOD; PETER I; PROTESTANTISM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cracraft, James. (1973). “Feofan Prokopovichy.” In The Eighteenth Century in Russia, ed. J. G. Garrard. Oxford: Clarendon. Cracraft, James. (1975). “Feofan Prokopovich: A Bibliography of His Works.” Oxford Slavonic Papers 8:1-36. Della Cava, Olha. (1971). “Feofan Prokopovich: His Life and His Sermons, 1681-1736.” Ph.D. diss. Columbia University, New York.
GREGORY L. FREEZE
PROLETKULT
An acronym for “proletarian cultural-educational organizations,” Proletkult was a loosely structured cultural organization that first took shape in Petro-grad (now St. Petersburg) a few days before the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. It began as a loose coalition of clubs, factory committees, workers’ theaters, and educational societies devoted to the cultural needs of the working class. By 1918, when the organization held its first organizational conference under Soviet power, it had expanded into a national movement with a much more ambitious purpose: to define a unique proletarian culture that would inform and inspire revolutionary Russian society.
The Proletkult’s most important theorist was a left-wing Bolshevik intellectual named Alexander
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Bogdanov. Before the Bolshevik Revolution, Bog-danov emerged as an articulate critic of Vladimir Lenin. Bogdanov contended that in order for a proletarian revolution to succeed, the working class had to develop its own ideology and proletarian intelligentsia to take and wield power. His insistence on working-class autonomy put him at odds with Lenin’s interpretation of revolutionary change. Bogdanov’s influence was clearly evident in the Proletkult’s political stance; its leaders insisted that the organization remain separate from government cultural agencies and the Communist Party.
At its peak in the fall of 1920, the Proletkult claimed a mass following of almost half a million people spread over three hundred local groups. These figures must be viewed with caution because they cannot be verified by existing records. Moreover, they imply a kind of cohesion that the organization did not possess during the chaotic years of the Russian civil war (1917-1922), when the Bolshevik regime was fought for its survival. Certainly, not all participants understood that they were supposed to be creating original forms of proletarian culture. Probably even fewer were aware of the national leadership’s demand for independence from the Soviet state and Communist Party.
Much of the organization’s work during the Civil War continued the activities of prerevolu-tionary adult education schools called People’s Homes (narodnye doma) and people’s universities. Proletkult participants took part in literacy and foreign language classes, as well as lectures on current events and recent scientific achievements. They also attended musical concerts, plays, and readings offered by professional artists. In addition, the organization sponsored classes in music, literature, and the visual arts. A number of important artists from middle- and upper-class backgrounds took part in the Proletkult’s many workshops, including the symbolist writer Andrew Bely, and the avant-garde painter Olga Rozanova. Some came for the salary and rations that teaching positions provided. Others found a sympathetic environment for artistic experimentation. The future film director Sergei Eisenstein, for example, transformed the First Workers’ Theater in Moscow into one of the nation’s most inventive stages.
Proletkult studios nurtured new talent, such as the actress Judith Glizer, who went on to a very successful theatrical and film career. However, the best-known proletarian artists associated with the Proletkult had already begun their creative work before the Revolution. Writers were particularly prevalent. The poetry, plays, and stories of authors such as Vladimir Kirillov, Michael Gerasimov, and Paul Bessalko formed the creative center of Pro-letkult publications. Eventually they left the organization to form an influential writers’ circle called The Smithy (Kuznitsy), which was an important contributor to debates on the place of art in Soviet society during the 1920s.
Although much of the Proletkult’s work was on a rudimentary educational level, its demands for autonomy put it on a collision course with the Communist Party. In December 1920, Lenin issued a devastating critique of the organization, attacking not only its independence but also the very idea of a unique proletarian culture. In short order, the Proletkult was made into a subsection of the governmental cultural agency, the Commissariat of Enlightenment. In an attempt to stabilize the economy after the conclusion of the Civil War, the government slashed funds for all cultural projects. These steps drastically reduced the organization’s size and influence.
During the 1920s, the Proletkult continued to operate on a small scale in Moscow, Leningrad, and a few provincial cities. In the creative arts, it was overshadowed by newer professional organizations, such as the Proletarian Writers’ Union, which claimed to represent workers’ cultural interests. Instead, the organization invested most of its energy in providing services to trade union clubs. During the First Five-Year Plan (1928-1932), it saw a brief period of growth. However, in April 1932, the Communist Party summarily closed down the Proletkult along with all other cultural associations that assumed special ties to workers. From now on, the Communist Party decreed, Soviet artistic works had to appeal to all social classes, not just the proletariat. The Proletkult’s final demise marked an important step on the path to socialist realism. See also: CULTURAL REVOLUTION; LENIN, VLADIMIR IL-LICH
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fitzpatrick, Sheila. (1970). The Commissariat of Enlightenment: Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts Under Lunacharsky, October 1917-1921. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Mally, Lynn. (1990). Culture of the Future: The Proletkult Movement in Revolutionary Russia. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Sochor, Zenovia A. (1988). Revolution and Culture: The Bogdanov-Lenin Controversy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Steinberg, Mark D. (2002). Proletarian Imagination: Self, Modernity, and the Sacred in Russia, 1910-1925. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
LYNN MALLY
PROPP, VLADIMIR IAKOVLEVICH
(1895-1970), folklorist, best known for Morphology of the Folktale, a structuralist analysis and fundamental work on the theory of narrative.
Vladimir Iakovlevich Propp was born and educated in St. Petersburg, where he received a degree in philology. After teaching Russian and German for a short time, he concentrated exclusively on folklore, chairing the Folklore Department of Leningrad State University from 1863 to 1964.
Morphology of the Folktale (1928) was an atte
mpt to reduce all folktales to one structure. Dissatisfied with the classification system in the Aarne-Thompson Tale Type Index, Propp proposed a different tale unit, a plot element he called the function. He found that all the tales in Alexander N. Afanasev’s Russkie narodnye skazki (Russian fairy tales) had the same thirty-one functions appearing in the same order, and that the actors in the tales could be reduced to a dramatis personae of seven. Morphology of the Folktale became known in the West through Claude L?vi-Strauss, who criticized Propp’s construct and favored a different approach, and Alan Dundes, who showed that it applied beyond European tales.
Propp’s next book, The Historical Roots of the Magic Tale (1946), sought to show that folktales originated in ritual, especially initiation and funeral rites. In 1948, along with other Soviet scholars, Propp came under official attack. His Morphology was criticized for being too formalist, and his Historical Roots was said to be too dependent on Western scholarship and too willing to place Russian narrative in a global context. While he was never arrested and retained his university position, Propp shifted his focus, and his Russian Heroic Epic (1958) is a more Marxist interpretation, linking epic to stages of socioeconomic development. In his final major work, Russian Agrarian Holidays (1963), Propp returned to his earlier methodology and elucidated common elements in calendrical ritual. See also: FOLKLORE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Propp, Vladimir. (1975). Morphology of the Folktale, 2nd ed., tr. Laurence Scott, ed. Louis A. Wagner. Austin: University of Texas Press. Propp, Vladimir. (1984). Theory and History of Folklore, tr. Ariadna Y. Martin and Richard P. Martin, ed. Anatoly Liberman. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.