Vladimir Sorokin's 2002-2005 Legal Battle and Cultural Campaign in Putin's Russia
In January 2002, a youth movement supported by the Kremlin, known as Idushchie Vmeste, initiated a book exchange in Moscow, specifically targeting writers Vladimir Sorokin, Viktor Pelevin, Viktor Erofeev, and Karl Marx. Their focus intensified on Sorokin following his commission by the Bolshoi Theatre for the opera "Rosenthal's Children." In June 2002, they staged a protest featuring a large papier-mâché toilet, into which they tossed Sorokin's books. The following month, the state prosecutor accused Sorokin and his publisher of producing pornography due to his novel Blue Lard, prompting international scrutiny and U.S. concerns. Sorokin filed a countersuit, leading to the case's dismissal in April 2003. In 2005, Duma deputy Sergei Neverov spearheaded a parliamentary inquiry into the Bolshoi production.
Key facts
- Idushchie Vmeste launched a book exchange campaign in Moscow in January 2002 targeting Vladimir Sorokin, Viktor Pelevin, Viktor Erofeev, and Karl Marx.
- The movement was widely seen as a creation of the Administration of the President under Vladimir Putin.
- Sorokin and composer Leonid Desyatnikov were commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre to create the opera "Rosenthal's Children" in 2002.
- In June 2002, Idushchie Vmeste protested with a giant papier-mâché toilet, throwing Sorokin's books inside while wearing latex gloves.
- The state prosecutor filed criminal charges against Sorokin and publisher Ad Marginem in July 2002 for pornography related to his novel Blue Lard.
- The U.S. Department of State expressed concern over the case on July 24, 2002.
- The criminal case was dismissed in April 2003 after Sorokin countersued for copyright violation.
- In 2005, Duma deputy Sergei Neverov led a parliamentary investigation into the Bolshoi production, coinciding with a $1 billion reconstruction plan announcement.
Entities
Artists
- Vladimir Sorokin
- Viktor Pelevin
- Viktor Erofeev
- Boris Vasil'ev
- Leonid Desyatnikov
- Karl Marx
- Aleksandra Marinina
- Dmitry Shostakovich
- Erik Bulatov
- Ilya Kabakov
- Vitalii Komar
- Alexandr Melamid
- Sergei Shnurov
- Osip Mandelshtam
- Boris Pasternak
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Joseph Brodsky
- Andrei Platonov
- Anna Akhmatova
- Boris Groys
- Evgenii Bershtein
- Jesse Hadden
- Vasilii Iakemenko
- Mikhail Shvydkoi
- Sergei Iastrzhembsky
- Oleg Mironov
- Sergei Neverov
- Vladislav Surkov
- A.I. Gurov
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Joseph Stalin
- Anton Chekhov
- Nikolai Leskov
- Ivan Bunin
- Alexander Kuprin
Institutions
- Idushchie Vmeste
- Administration of the President
- Bolshoi Theatre
- Ad Marginem
- Ministry of Culture
- Duma
- Duma Security Committee
- Duma Committee on Culture
- United Russia
- U.S. Department of State
- Gazprom
- Izvestia
- Pravda
- BBC
- Ekho Moskvy
- Russian Newsweek
- Reed College
- ARTMargins Online
- Nashi
- Komsomol
- Communist Party
Locations
- Moscow
- Russia
- Portland
- Oregon
- United States
- Karl-Marx-Stadt
- Chemnitz
- Germany
- Leningrad
- Soviet Union