Cicada - HEKETROCERA

CYNOSURE NEWS

Censorship and Dissent

The XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) is the 20th Congress held in 1956. This congress is particularly notable for the secret speech delivered by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev on February 25, 1956. In this speech, titled “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences,” Khrushchev openly criticized the policies and cult of personality surrounding Joseph Stalin, who had been the leader of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953.

Khrushchev’s speech marked a significant moment in Soviet history as it acknowledged and condemned Stalin’s excesses, including mass purges, political repression, and violations of human rights. The revelations in the speech had profound effects both within the Soviet Union and internationally. It led to a process of de-Stalinisation, during which Stalin’s personality cult was dismantled, and some of his policies were revised.

The XX Congress is often seen as a pivotal event that contributed to shifts in the Soviet political landscape, influencing subsequent political developments and intellectual debates within the Eastern Bloc countries, including Czechoslovakia. The speech had a considerable impact on intellectuals and party members who began to question and criticize the rigid Stalinist model, leading to discussions about political and cultural reforms.

In January 1981, the Italian Communist Party’s publishing house released a book featuring interviews with Eduard Goldstücker, conducted by Franco Bertone. Goldstücker, who began writing essays in the 1930s, faced political challenges in Czechoslovakia. In 1964, his essay on Franz Kafka had a notable impact in a cultural and political climate marked by antisemitism.
Goldstücker became a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee but was forced to emigrate in 1968, later losing his nationality in 1974. The text includes translated excerpts from Chapter VI of Goldstücker’s interviews, focusing on the political and cultural atmosphere in Prague. It critiques those who simplify Czechoslovakia’s historical process to 1968 and Soviet intervention.
The narrative delves into the aftermath of the XX Congress of the CPSU in 1956, where Czechoslovak intellectuals questioned the applicability of the Stalinist model. The text highlights the struggles of intellectuals like Karel Kosík and Ivan Sviták, who faced punishment for expressing dissent.
The text mentions the Writers’ Congress, where poets Jaroslav Seifert and Frantisek Hrubín criticized the oppressive regime. It describes Goldstücker’s role in organizing an international conference on Kafka in 1962 and the subsequent discussions on censorship.
A significant episode involves a speech by Frantisek Hrubín, where he addressed the oppressive regime. The Writers’ Congress officially demanded the introduction of censorship, aiming to bring transparency to the existing but officially unrecognised censorship.
Alfred Kurella from East Germany criticized the international Kafka conference, labeling Kafka as a decadent writer. The conference participants, however, contested this view, emphasizing the continued relevance of alienation in the transition from capitalism to socialism.

The text concludes with an episode involving Ilya Ehrenburg’s visit to Prague, where he expressed surprise at Kafka’s works published in Russian for Bulgarian readers. It hints at the repercussions of the Kafka conference and alludes to the second phase beginning after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Photograph of Eduard Goldstücker during a conference in 1968.

Lyrical Contemplations

In the illustrious pursuit of poetic expression, the enigmatic realm of Cicadas has beckoned the minds of profound thinkers across centuries, transcending cultural landscapes and poetic traditions. This symphony of reflections encompasses the contemplative essence found in the timeless hum of the Cicadas.

A departure from the celebrated Muses and Sirens of Greek lore, Plato unfolds a mythic allegory in his Phaedrus, wherein the ethereal voices of Cicadas take center stage. In this philosophical journey, Cicadas engage in a melodic dialogue, blurring boundaries between divine song and earthly cacophony. Through this fanciful narrative, Plato elucidates the liminality of sound—a spectral bridge between the corporeal and the immaterial, echoing the enigmatic essence of the voice.

A noteworthy contribution emerges from late 1500s to the early 1600s in Japan. In a portion of the poetry anthology titled “Shinsen Roeishu,” curated by the esteemed Konoe Nobutada, cicadas take center stage, adding a unique resonance to the cultural and poetic landscape of the time.

The verses within “Shinsen Roeishu” unveil the delicate dance between words and nature, capturing the ephemeral essence of cicadas in the poetic consciousness. As poets explore the intricate nuances of life, love, and transience, the cicada emerges as a poignant symbol, weaving its song into the verses penned by Konoe Nobutada and fellow wordsmiths of the period.
Fast forward to the 20th century, and a luminary in Czech literature, with notable work published amidst the tumultuous backdrop of 1940s Czechoslovakia, ventures into the lyrical and contemplative. The titular poem unfurls a rich tapestry of metaphors, casting the Cicadas as symbols of transience amidst the ephemeral nature of life. These verses delve into themes of love, loss, and the profound interconnectedness of human existence with the natural world. Through the lens of Cicadas, readers are invited to reflect upon the delicate dance between impermanence and the inexorable passage of time.

The echo of Cicadas resonates across the annals of literature, intertwining with disquieting verses that conjure visceral imagery. Nestled within an infamous collection, a vivid exploration of decay and beauty entwined invites contemplation. These audacious verses, facing societal censure in 19th-century France, endure as a testament to the exploration of the macabre.

As the 19th-century unfolds, a symbiotic encounter between audacious verses and the inherent symbolism of Cicadas materializes. In this collaborative odyssey, the Cicada emerges once again as a potent symbol in the visual lexicon curated by artists. The Cicada, with its unusual life cycle and metaphorical resonance, becomes a muse for visual interpretations and lyrical contemplations. Dead flowers, extinguished candles, and precariously placed objects coalesce in a visual symphony mirroring the transient nature of life.
In the labyrinth of literary history, an encounter with Cicadas by Dominique Hecq adds psychoanalytical depth to the ongoing conversation. Drawing inspiration from invocatory drives, a collaborative sound and poetry artwork embarks on a journey titled “Thirst.” The Cicada’s song becomes a poignant motif, symbolizing not only the struggle for life but also the paradoxical intersection of surface relations and their deeper psychological implications. A conceptual framework, rooted in the scopic and invocatory drives, provides a lens to unravel the complexities of auditory reception and the subtle dance between the symbolic and the real.

As the Cicada’s song persists through the corridors of literary epochs, each encounter leaves an indelible mark on the poetic landscape. From philosophical musings to lyrical contemplations, audacious verses, visual reinterpretations, and psychoanalytical explorations, the Cicada becomes a timeless muse. A creature that transcends its entomological existence to embody the ephemeral symphony of life and art. In the grand tapestry of literary evolution, the Cicadas continue to hum, inviting poets, artists, and thinkers to join in the eternal dance of creation and reflection.

An image showing
A portion from Poetry Anthology Shinsen Roeishu

The cover of Charles Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal

This is mostly a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used mostly fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is mostly incidental.