Abstract: Literary criticism is a form of discursive practice. Socialist realism is a key concept in the process of contemporary literature both in the Soviet Union and in China. The delineation of the trajectory along which the concept evolves may help the reflection on its historical function. In terms of the effects of the discursive practice, "the open system" of socialist realism is de facto "openness in conservatism," which does promote the "spiritual liberation" in the circles of literary criticism and literary creation. The open system can also be understood as "open conservatism," and it was indeed meant to be the cultural strategy to defend the socialist realism through initiatives of self-amending. For such an important discourse in literary history, the socialist realism in the Soviet should be examined by putting it into the broader context of 20^th-century intellectual and culture history.

Key words: socialist realism, discursive practice, openness, conservatism