A study into the influence of children's periodicals on the attitudes and political awareness of young readers in the USSR from 1956-1982

在苏联，普通的苏联家庭订阅多种国家批准的出版物是司空见惯的事情。在出售的许多杂志中，有针对儿童或青少年的特别杂志。这些儿童杂志同所有其他经批准的报刊一样，受到社会主义现实主义的严格审查和当局的严格审查。传播和推进共产主义哲学是出版人的首要任务；孩子们不再被视为孩子，而是被视为共产主义未来的守护者。苏联儿童期刊媒体的首要话语是对党及其理想的尊重，以及对其合法性的任何怀疑的彻底拒绝。本博士项目旨在评估和分析儿童期刊媒体作为社会化媒介的作用。两本儿童杂志将被考虑：《Murzilka》和《Pioneer》，这是党批准的《Oktiabriata》和《Young Pioneer》运动的出版物，但也将关注当时的其他出版物，包括《Koster》。拟议的研究将特别关注1956年至1982年期间，分别包括赫鲁晓夫和勃列日涅夫领导下的解冻和停滞时期，并绘制出一种摇摆不定的儿童性格教育方法。关于儿童期刊出版社在苏联的作用的文章很少。这项研究不仅将解决儿童文学对年轻读者的社会化作用的现有知识差距，而且还将允许进一步解构苏联遗产及其对俄罗斯现状的塑造。建议的研究将从整体上考虑这两种主要出版物，重点关注以下问题：杂志是如何构建的？谁决定内容？这些出版物在塑造年轻共产主义者的态度方面有多有效？读者的社会化成功了吗？读者们长大后成为“新苏联”的男女了吗？首先，对每份杂志的文字和图形内容进行分析和编码。参考党的社会主义现实主义及其理论的实施，以及社会政治全景，以便将杂志的内容和形式置于语境中。这项研究将质疑社会主义现实主义的教义在多大程度上决定了杂志的内容，通过故事、诗歌和插图实现了多么严格的性格教育，反过来，这些又如何导致读者的政治化和社会化，以及苏联身份的谈判。将审查当代社会政治问题和事件对杂志内容的影响，以帮助了解社会如何看待儿童，反过来又如何看待儿童的社会。其次，研究将探讨杂志的建设。通过对编辑档案的分析，该项目将试图了解每个问题是如何形成的；内容是否由作者委托或建议，是否有任何隐含或明确的限制，是否需要在文章被认为适合发表之前进行任何修改，以及贡献者和编辑之间的关系的性质。在这样做的过程中，任何对贡献者的艺术限制都将被揭露，并分析编辑人员亲自执行的程度。最后，研究将试图评估目标读者对杂志的接受程度。为了揭示他们过去对杂志的态度，将对以前的读者进行采访。这些口述历史将有助于构建儿童如何看待杂志以及杂志在读者性格教育和社会态度中的作用以及这是隐性的还是显性的。

In the USSR, it was commonplace for the average Soviet family to subscribe to multiple state-sanctioned publications. Among the many on offer were particular magazines targeted towards children or youths. Along with all other approved press, these children's magazines were subject to the rigours of Socialist Realism and the strict censorship of the authorities. The conveyance and advancement of Communist philosophy was the primary concern of the publishers; children were not seen as children, rather they were considered as future guardians of Communism. The overarching discourse of the Soviet children's periodical press is one of deference to the party and its ideals and an outright rejection of any doubts as to its legitimacy. This PhD project seeks to assess and analyse the children's periodical press as an agent of socialisation. Two children's magazines will be considered: Murzilka and Pioner, the party-sanctioned publications of the Oktiabriata and Young Pioneer movements, but attention will also be paid to other publications of the time, including Koster. The proposed research will look specifically at the period 1956-1982, encompassing the Thaw and Stagnation periods under Khrushchev and Brezhnev respectively, and charting a vacillating approach to the character education of children. Little has been written on the role of the children's periodical press in the Soviet Union. This research will not only address this gap in existing knowledge on the socialising role of children's literature on young readers, but will also allow further deconstruction of the Soviet legacy and its shaping of the Russian present.The proposed research will consider the two major publications holistically, focusing on the following questions: How were the magazines constructed? Who decided the content? How effective were the publications in shaping the attitudes of young communists? Was the socialisation of the reader a success? Did the readers grow up to be 'New Soviet' men and women? First, the textual and graphic content of each magazine will be analysed and coded. Reference will be made to the party's implementation of Socialist Realism and the doctrines therein, as well as the socio-political panorama, in order to contextualise the magazine's content and form. The research will question how far the doctrines of Socialist Realism determined the content of the magazines, how stringent character education was realised through stories, poetry and illustrations and in turn, how these led to the politicisation and socialisation of the reader and the negotiation of Soviet identity. The effect of the contemporaneous socio-political issues and events on the content of the magazines will be examined in order to help understand how children were viewed by society and conversely how society was viewed by children.Secondly, the research will explore the construction of the magazines. Through analysis of editorial archives, the project will seek to understand how each issue came to be; whether the content was commissioned or suggested by the writer, whether any restrictions were implicit or explicit, whether any revisions were required before the piece was deemed suitable for publication and the nature of the relationship between contributor and editor. In so doing, any artistic constraints on contributors will be uncovered and the extent to which they were personally enforced by the editorial staff analysed.Finally, the research will seek to assess the reception of the magazines amongst the target readership. Interviews will be conducted with former readers in order to uncover their past attitude to the magazines. These oral histories will help construct a picture of how children viewed the magazines and the magazines' role in the readers' character education and social attitudes and whether this was achieved implicitly or explicitly.