Fairy Tales and True Stories: The History of Russian Literature for Children and Young People (1574–2010)

Description

Russian literature for children and young people has a history that goes back over 400 years, starting in the late sixteenth century with the earliest alphabet primers and passing through many different phases over the centuries that followed. It has its own success stories and tragedies, talented writers and mediocrities, bestsellers and long-forgotten prize winners. After their seizure of power in 1917, the Bolsheviks set about creating a new culture for a new man and a starting point was children's literature. 70 years of Soviet control and censorship were succeeded in the 1990s by a re-birth of Russian children's literature. This book charts the whole of this story, setting Russian authors and their books in the context of translated literature, critical debates and official cultural policy. Fairy Tales and True Stories: The History of Russian Literature for Children and Young People (1574–2010) Contents List of Illustrations Preface 1 The Beginnings (1574–1770) 2 From Enlightenment to Sentimentalism (1770–1825) Reading for the Heart and Mind A New Century 3 Romanticism (1825–1860) Fairy Tales and Fantasy The Black Hen The Town in the Snuffbox Pushkin and Zhukovsky The Little Humpbacked Horse National History The Moral Tale Vladimir Odoevsky Women Writers The Great Men of Russia Walking with Buryanov Poetry for Children Children’s Magazines Belinsky the Critic 4 Realism (1860–1890) The Critics The New Primers Women Writers Tur, Annenskaya and Zhelikhovskaya Male Realists Fairy Tales and Fantasy Informative Literature Poetry for Children Children’s Magazines Criticism Translations 5 Modernism (1890–1917) Publishing for Children Nat Pinkerton and Murzilka The Phenomenal Lidiya Charskaya In the Shadow of Charskaya Pity for the Outcast Nature Poems and Lullabies Translations Informative Literature Heartfelt Words Criticism The Crocodile 6 All the Colours of the Rainbow (1918–1932) The Forgotten Weapon Hedgehogs and Siskins Communist Reading What Is Good and What Is Bad? Korney Chukovsky Samuil Marshak The Oberiuts Unfortunate Orphans and Happy Young Pioneers Back to Nature Reality and Fantasy Boris Zhitkov 7 A New Society—A New Literature (1932–1940) The Fairy Tale Controversy Enter Gorky The Union of Soviet Writers Poetry and the Social Demands Positive Heroes and Base Enemies Arkady Gaydar Lev Kassil Buratino and the Golden Key 8 “Under the Wise Leadership of the Party and the Fatherly Care of Comrade Stalin” (1941–1953) The War In Praise of Stalin In Praise of Labour The School Novel Names of Importance Humour and Laughter In the Field of Poetry The Conference of 1952 9 Thaw in the World of Children (1954–1968) Windows Opened Up Writers’ Congresses The New Poetry Youth Prose Girls’ Stories The Theme of War Non-Fiction Neznayka and the Others 10 Years of Stagnation (1969–1985) Cultural Policy Troublesome Youth The General Line Cheburashka and the Others Poetry 11 Perestroika Reaches Children’s Literature (1986–1991) 12 The New Russian Children’s Literature (1991–2010) Bibliography Index of Names