Talk:Victor Serge

Serge on China

The only thing I could find was the following:

""I am afraid we will soon see burst on the scene in various countries communist-totalitarian condottieri like Mao Tse-tung or Tito, cynical and convinced, who will be 'revolutionaries' or counter-revolutionaries – or both at the same time – according to the orders they receive, and capable of a complete about face from one day to the next." [1] --GwydionM (talk) 17:26, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Sad that his abuses at the hands of soviet authorities caused him to adopt such a two dimensional, anti-communist Cold War outlook. Mao and Tito were leaders of authentic, deep seated social revolutions in their countries of world historic importance in their own right, events that were not at all a function of them being manipulated by a foreign puppet master like Josef Stalin, with their later dramatic breaks with the USSR being clear evidence of that. Not that it matters, but that mentality rooted in defeat and demoralization was not one Trotsky subscribed to, in fact he polemicized against it during the last year of his life.

2604:2D80:ED08:A00:89F3:D900:59AF:3749 (talk) 20:29, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Serge in France

There is a new book out about Serge’s life in France during the army years of World War 2, living under the Nazi occupation. It would be good if that period of his life were to be addressed in the article 2604:2D80:ED08:A00:89F3:D900:59AF:3749 (talk) 20:23, 23 November 2022 (UTC)

Short

Why is this so short ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.112.148.196 (talk) 19:53, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

it seems the page was culled down from the previous entry for not containing enough "secondary, independent" sources. however the previous entry was to a large degree a summary of his own memoirs. i fail to see how this primary source lacks value that another's summary of his life (which would, necessarily, draw from his memoirs!) would allegedly provide. as it stands the current page provides hardly any information whatsoever. it should be revised back to the previous version that contained detailed information about his life and political development. 24.148.91.14 (talk) 17:11, 8 March 2024 (UTC)

Yes this is really poor and lacking in information compared with what it had before. If his autobiography is ruled out as a source (I dont think it should be, since he lived a semi-clandestine life under a government that routinely destroyed and falsified information it didn't like), what is there out there to refer to? SOme possibilities:

• He corresponded with Orwell
• He was involved in the Bonnot Gang trial, so: Richard Parry: The Bonnot gang. Rebel Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-946061-04-4,
• The foreword of the NYRB edition of memoirs is by someone else, that could be used.
• Critique Journal issue 28-29 looks very promising: https://web.archive.org/web/20050212230912/http://www.critiquejournal.net/c28.htm#INTRODUCTION but it needs someone with access to the source. (Is it in wikilibrary?
• Susan Sontag, The Unextiguished: The Case for Victor Serge in her last collection, apparently.(At the Same Time: essays and speeches)
• https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/zer0-books/our-books/vagabond-witness -- biography from 2013-ish

Chaikney (talk) 11:24, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

@Chaikney Critique (Glascow) is indeed promising. I can get copies. -- asilvering (talk) 16:50, 28 April 2024 (UTC)