SMOG (literary group) explained

SMOG (ru|СМОГ) was one of the earliest informal literary groups independent of the Soviet state in the post-Stalin Soviet Union. Among several interpretations of the acronym are Smelost', Mysl', Obraz i Glubina (Courage, Thought, Image and Depth), and, humorously, Samoe Molodoe Obshchestvo Geniev (Society of Youngest Geniuses).^{[1] [2]} It is also a pun: the Russian word "смог" means " was able (to do something)".

It was organized in January/February 1965 by a group of young poets and writers: Poet Leonid Gubanov (initiator, membership card #1); writer and editor (membership card #2); poet and publicist Yuri Kublanovsky;, a poet who received the Andrei Bely Prize; and poets Nikolai Bokov and, later joined by several dozens of others.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

The group held public poetry readings and issued several samizdat collections and a magazine, Sfinksy ("Sphynxes"). In 1965, they revived their literary meetings at Mayakovsky Square (Mayakovsky Square poetry readings).^[7]

Some members also helped organize the unsanctioned 1965 glasnost rally calling for a legal trial of writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel.^[8]

The group was under pressure from the state. Its last poetry reading took place on April 14, 1966.

Bibliography

• Book: Aleinikov, Vladimir. ru . Zvonnitsa-MG. 5-88093-133-1. Golos i svet, ili SMOG – samoe molodoe obshchestvo geniev. Moscow. XX vek: liki, litsa, lichiny. 2004.
• Book: Aleinikov, Vladimir. ru. 978-5-94282-468-6. SMOG: Roman-poema. Moskva. 2008.
• Book: Batshev, Vladimir. ru. Franc-Tireur. 978-0-557-13929-3. SMOG: Pokolenie s perebitymi nogami. USA. 2009 .

External links

• Web site: К вопросу об истории СМОГа. gefter.ru. 2015-12-02. Сурикова. Ольга. 2013-03-26. ru. On the question of the history of SMOG.

Notes and References

1. Or: Szhatyj Mig Otrazhennoi Giperboly (Condensed Moment of Reflected Hyperbole). 'Smog' is also a past tense of the verb 'to be able to', yielding 'I was able to', or 'I did it'. Book: Kravchenko, E. I.. Modern Humanities Research Association. 978-1-907322-52-5. The Prose of Sasha Sokolov: Reflections on/of the Real. London. MHRA texts and dissertations. 2013., p. 15
2. http://www.portal-slovo.ru/slovo/15685.php?PRINT=Y An interview with Kublanovsky
3. Диссиденты о диссидентстве. «Знамя». — М., 1997, № 9
4. Виктория Андреева, SMOG
5. Сенкевич А. Показания свидетелей защиты: Из истории русского поэтического подполья 1960-х. М., 1992г.; Алейников В. Смелость, Мысль, Образ, Глубина // Другое искусство (as cite in http://www.memo.ru/history/diss/links/smog.htm)
6. Book: Kravchenko, E. I.. Modern Humanities Research Association. 978-1-907322-52-5. The Prose of Sasha Sokolov: Reflections on/of the Real. London. MHRA texts and dissertations. 2013.
7. 16. Sundaram. Chantal. "The stone skin of the monument": Mayakovsky, Dissent and Popular Culture in the Soviet Union. Toronto Slavic Quarterly. 2006.
8. Book: A. Roginskii, A. Danielʹ. Memorial: Zvenʹia. 5787000862. 5 dekabria 1965 goda: v vospominaniiakh uchastnikov sobytii, materialakh samizdata, publikatsiiakh zarubezhnoii pressy i v dokumentakh partiinykh i komsomolʹskikh organizatsii i v zapiskakh Komiteta gosudarstvannoi beznopasnosti v TsK KPSS. Moscow. 2005 . ru. etal.