This topic is well-known to me because of my father, who was a rather mediocre Soviet writer. After his gulag, he accepted all the rules of Socialist Realism, but every time his book was published, he complained about censorship. One of his novels went through seven different censors. So, when Stepanova had only several lines out of her book, it was not yet torture, although it was sad because it was about a hateful war in Ukraine.
It's so devastating that history repeats itself. Seven different censors — it's unbelievable. I always think about the people in that profession — how they feel and what they think while doing it.
This topic is well-known to me because of my father, who was a rather mediocre Soviet writer. After his gulag, he accepted all the rules of Socialist Realism, but every time his book was published, he complained about censorship. One of his novels went through seven different censors. So, when Stepanova had only several lines out of her book, it was not yet torture, although it was sad because it was about a hateful war in Ukraine.
It's so devastating that history repeats itself. Seven different censors — it's unbelievable. I always think about the people in that profession — how they feel and what they think while doing it.