Soviet children’s literature and the claims that the literature of the capitalist countries
as such had become incomprehensible for the Soviet child.
The whole of the Soviet society was affected by the Second World War. The main task
of literature was to strengthen will to victory. Writers depicted children participating in
the fighting (Kataev’s The Son of the Regiment, 1945; Aleksandr Fadeev’s The Young
Guard, 1945) or in work at home (Lev Kassil’s My Dear Urchins, 1944). The hero of
Lyubov Voronkova’s The City Girl (1943) has lost her parents in the war but finds a new
home in the countryside. After the war, many semi-documentary works were written
about young martyrs of the war (Kassil’s The Street of the Youngest Son, 1949). During
the whole Soviet period, the theme of war was to occupy a prominent place in juvenile
reading, partly compensating for the lack of adventure stories.
The return to peace was darkened by an ideological tightening up with, among others,
Chukovsky being used as a warning example. The decade after the war meant an
unprecedented state of humiliation for literature. Ideal heroes and trifling conflicts
dominated children’s literature. Most writers also contributed to the apotheosis of
Stalin.
In ‘kolkhoz’ novels for young adults (Aleksei Musatov’s Stozhary Village, 1948), the
educative function of physical labour was stressed. A popular genre was the school
story, in which an individualistically minded pupil gets corrected by the class collective
(Mariya Prilezhaeva’s The Comrades Are With You, 1949; Nikolai Nosov’s Vitya Maleev in
School and at Home, 1951). Also the Cold War left its mark on children’s literature.
N.Kalma pictured racism in American schools and the joyless life of children under
capitalism. Poetry was in the service of topical needs, as the political verses of Sergei
Mikhalkov show.
Against this gloomy background two humorists stood out clearly. Nikolai Nosov’s and
Yury Sotnik’s curious and lively schoolboys perpetually end up in difficult situations.
Nosov added to the humour by letting the children themselves narrate their small
adventures in an innocent tone.
The criticism of Stalinism at the party congress in 1956 signified a turning point in
Soviet history. The cultural ‘thaw’ brought with it some new children’s magazines, like
Vesyolye kartiny [Funny Pictures, 1956–] and many important translations. New writers
appeared, enriching children’s literature both thematically and stylistically. Young,
innovative poets like Boris Zakhoder, Emma Moshkovskaya, Irina Tokmakova and
Genrikh Sapgir cultivated play on words, the use of the child persona and humorous
verse.
A movement towards greater realism occurred within prose. Writers like Nikolai
Dubov, Grigory Medynsky and Anatoly Kuznetsov treated ethical conflicts in families, at
school, or at work. Also subjects like orphanhood, divorce and juvenile crime were
touched upon. The heroes stand on the threshold of adult life, searching for lasting
values. Less exterior drama, but a deeper psychological analysis were characteristic of
Anatoly Aleksin, Yury Yakovlev, Rady Pogodin and Vadim Zheleznikov.
The most popular writer of adventure novels was Anatoly Rybakov. In The Dirk (1948)
and The Bronze Bird (1956) pioneers expose the plans of Soviet enemies. The young
heroes are on the side of the revolution, but more important was Rybakov’s excellent
handling of the standard devices of the genre. Also science fiction was revived through
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