Oldal 128 [128]
FROM IDOL DESTRUCTION TO IDOLATRY
present problems”. In the aftermath of the 1968 Hungarian economic
reforms, allusions to the New Economic Policy served as a clear parallel, and
musings on the “topic of Lenin” did not contribute to the understanding of
the past, but to the understanding of the future, so reviewers, sometimes
clumsily, sometimes astutely,°° focused on the aspects of Chapters that
were “the most edifying for us, today”.®” This was especially poignant in the
central two chapters, which offered insight into the circumstances that led to
the birth of the peace that ended World War 1, and of the NEP (the new Soviet
economic policy of the 1920s).
Gyurk6o’s work condenses “the human motives behind Lenin’s work and
Lenin’s thought” into four chapters (not acts), showing Lenin “in an intimate
close-up, lit from four directions”.“’ The well-known events of the Bolshevik
take-over and the most important episodes of the life story are skipped over,
the play shows situations and relationships that are rarely in focus, using
them to demonstrate the alternatives of certain actions. The first chapter,
the “pastorale” of Gyurkö’s oratorio,°!? portrays the 1896-1900 exile, which
also served as Lenin’s honeymoon with his wife, mostly through letters
about hunting, fishing, picking mushrooms, skating, and paints an almost
lyrical picture of “Volodya”. The second chapter uses the written records
of the heated argument between the members of the Central Committee
before accepting the German ultimatum for peace, to provide “a live report
from history”.° It surprises us with a Lenin who — saying he has “had
enough of empty revolutionary talk”®! — turns against the fundamentalists
who cling to the idea of world revolution, and are maniacally hoping for
615 Szombat délután. Radio broadcast at 16.34. on 18? April, 1970.
616 Cf. “And for us, maybe it is more edifying today: to be a revolutionary in the workings of
everyday life, to adapt to and act in the bloodless revolution with revolutionary faith and
strong principles. [...] This is how Lenin becomes alive and the modernity of Leninism
manifests itself here.” Lék6s: Fejezetek Leninről, 7. — “On the stage of the National, [Lenin] is
giving a lesson in morality, politics and democratic decision-making in the scene of The two
paths. [...] The solution [i.e. resolving the dispute within the Central Committee before the
peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk] contains a deep lesson in the exercise of democracy as well. We
realize how utopian is the idea that open democracy could be a way of avoiding conflicts,
of the unproblematic and riskless coexistence of multiple opinions. Lenin’s decision that
ensures democratism is a commitment to undertake and resolve conflicts at the same time.”
Almasi: A demokracia gyakorlasa, 39.
This latter phrase between quotation marks comes from a text by Gyurkó written for the
playbill.
György Sas: Fejezetek Leninről — Döntés. Megemlékezés színházban, televízióban, Film
Színház Muzsika, Vol. 18, No. 12, 2"! May, 1970, 4.
619 M.B.B.: Fejezetek Leninről, 5.
620 Anna Földes: Gondolatok színpada. Fejezetek Leninről, Nők Lapja, Vol. 22, No. 18, 2° May,
1970, 10.
Gyurkó: Fejezetek Leninről, 449.
617
618
621
s 126"