ABSTRACT
New cultural creations fell far below party expectations, and Yugoslavia's youth seemed equally far from becoming the new more socialist people. The party's problems with youth were, however, closely associated with its cultural policies since youth often revealed their nonsocialist views in their production and selection of high and mass culture. The formal conclusions adopted by the conference called, in typical Stalinist style, for a greater connection between youth and the new socialist reality they were expected to describe. Cultural artistic trends, party leaders admitted, could not be dictated, nor could the gap between high and low culture be eliminated by fiat. Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) cultural activists responded to this new approach in a variety of ways. Some clearly welcomed the new opportunities for cultural freedom and became fervent promoters of the struggle of opinions. The growing divide between youth and their elders also appeared in open debates on the pages of various cultural journals.
