The purpose of this thesis is to explore the period of relative economic and artistic freedom that occurred during the time of the New Economic Policy (1921-1924). The general failure in agriculture and in industrial productivity forced the Soviet regime to allow diversions from the orthodox Marxist view of state ownership of the tools of production. Because of the need to start the wheels of production turning, the minor landowners, small manufacturers and petty profiteers took to the task in hope of financial gains. This economic environment, uncontrolled by the Communist Party, reflected itself in the relatively chaotic "artistic scene". Amongst the many literary groups that appeared during the early 1920's, I dwell mostly upon the Serapion Brothers and the members of that group, singling out for more intense study Mikhail Zoshchenko: his artistry and his struggle for artistic freedom. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate