Διανοούμενοι και κομμουνισμός: μια ανασκόπηση

Abstract

In this Journal the causes of the collapse of the communist system were discussed in several articles. This essay aims to add to this discussion about the collapse of communism; more specifically, that one of the reasons of this collapse was the absence of intellectuals in the authentic sense of the term. The traditional layer of the intellectuals, which could be preserved in the West- in spite of any modifications-, disappeared in the ‘real socialism’. This ‘disappearance’ had already taken place in the communist Russia some years after the October Revolution of 1917. Therewith a layer was missing which could warn of undesirable social developments through its criticism. In this essay, we discuss, first, particular theoretical approaches about the question of intellectuals and second, we examine certain considerations by representative intellectuals about communism; further, we stress our emphasis upon writers in between the Two World Wars. It is outlined how these intellectuals saw the Soviet Union on the basis of personal experiences. In the last part of this essay, the focus is upon the following question: how ‘disloyal’ intellectuals assessed their engagement with communism and finally, how their relation with it came to an end. We conclude by raising the following open-ended questions: to what extent the traditional role of intellectuals was politically and culturally bound with the nation-state; is it possible to replace these ties with something equivalent in the future?