the prevailing revisionism, and in Marcellesi and Gardin’s manual, where
they are submitted to a critical discussion. In this manual, the extracts are
preceded by sub-titles, which state the main theses of Stalin’s text. I shall
adopt them. There is a main thesis and various secondary theses that follow
from it.
The main thesis is formulated at the beginning of the text. It stipulates that
language is not a superstructure. The following quotation gives an idea of the
thesis, obviously, but also of the tone and style of the Great Leader’s
intervention:
QUESTION: Is it true that language is a superstructure on the base?
ANSWER: No, it is not true.
The base is the economic structure of society at a given stage of its
development. The superstructure consists of the political, legal, religious,
artistic, and philosophical views of society and the political, legal, and other
institutions corresponding to them.
Every base has its own superstructure corresponding to it. The base of
the feudal system has its superstructure – its political, legal, and other views
and the corresponding institutions; the capitalist base has its own
superstructure, and so has the socialist base. If the base changes or is
eliminated, then following this its superstructure changes or is eliminated;
if a new base arises, then following this a new superstructure arises
corresponding to it.
In this respect language radically differs from superstructure. Take, for
example, Russian society and the Russian language. During the past thirty
years the old, capitalist base was eliminated and a new, socialist base was
built. Correspondingly, the superstructure on the capitalist base was eliminated
and a new superstructure created corresponding to the socialist base. The
old political, legal, and other institutions were consequently supplanted by
new, socialist institutions. But in spite of this the Russian language has
remained essentially what it was before the October Revolution.... As to the basic vocabulary and grammatical structure of the Russian
language...far from having been eliminated and supplanted...[they] have
been preserved in their entirety and have not undergone any serious change –
[they] have been preserved precisely as the foundation of modern Russia.^12
76 • Chapter Four
(^12) Stalin 1973, pp. 407–8.