Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars
Based on a quantitative analysis of the publishing repertoires that produced Russian-language literature in Europe between 1920 and 1939, this article examines the children's book market. Children's literature exhibited a hierarchy of genres and writers, dominated by the fairy tale genre...
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| Language: | English |
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Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
2025-05-01
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| Series: | RUS (São Paulo) |
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.usp.br/rus/article/view/235386 |
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| author | Anna Dimianenko |
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Based on a quantitative analysis of the publishing repertoires that produced Russian-language literature in Europe between 1920 and 1939, this article examines the children's book market. Children's literature exhibited a hierarchy of genres and writers, dominated by the fairy tale genre and two leading authors in this field — Alexander Pushkin and Hans Christian Andersen. Pushkin's works were published largely due to the establishment of Russian Culture Days and the tradition of including his fairy tales in school anthologies. Andersen’s popularity is linked to the embodiment of Romantic aesthetics and philosophical worldview inherited by Russian émigrés. The fairy tale emerged as the leading genre, driven by aesthetic, pedagogical, and pragmatic goals. Despite the substantial number of texts and critics' attention to new children's authors, émigré children's literature continued to be regarded as a lower-tier genre, and the status of the children's writer remained precarious within the literary community. As a result, children were offered canonical texts and folkloric imagery traditionally associated with the essence of the people. The reissuing of works by classic authors and canonical texts of Russian literature formed the cornerstone for transmitting and preserving national cultural traditions and shaping the national identity of children in emigration.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d00da69995084635bef85fd7f4980fde |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2317-4765 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Universidade de São Paulo (USP) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | RUS (São Paulo) |
| spelling | doaj-art-d00da69995084635bef85fd7f4980fde2025-08-20T02:00:46ZengUniversidade de São Paulo (USP)RUS (São Paulo)2317-47652025-05-01162810.11606/issn.2317-4765.rus..235386Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World WarsAnna Dimianenko0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7378-0613Institute of Russian Literature Based on a quantitative analysis of the publishing repertoires that produced Russian-language literature in Europe between 1920 and 1939, this article examines the children's book market. Children's literature exhibited a hierarchy of genres and writers, dominated by the fairy tale genre and two leading authors in this field — Alexander Pushkin and Hans Christian Andersen. Pushkin's works were published largely due to the establishment of Russian Culture Days and the tradition of including his fairy tales in school anthologies. Andersen’s popularity is linked to the embodiment of Romantic aesthetics and philosophical worldview inherited by Russian émigrés. The fairy tale emerged as the leading genre, driven by aesthetic, pedagogical, and pragmatic goals. Despite the substantial number of texts and critics' attention to new children's authors, émigré children's literature continued to be regarded as a lower-tier genre, and the status of the children's writer remained precarious within the literary community. As a result, children were offered canonical texts and folkloric imagery traditionally associated with the essence of the people. The reissuing of works by classic authors and canonical texts of Russian literature formed the cornerstone for transmitting and preserving national cultural traditions and shaping the national identity of children in emigration. https://revistas.usp.br/rus/article/view/235386Russian children's literatureFairy taleAlexander PushkinHans Christian AndersenRussian publishing houses in Europe |
| spellingShingle | Anna Dimianenko Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars RUS (São Paulo) Russian children's literature Fairy tale Alexander Pushkin Hans Christian Andersen Russian publishing houses in Europe |
| title | Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars |
| title_full | Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars |
| title_fullStr | Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars |
| title_short | Tales of the Past: Russian Children's Literature Abroad Between the Two World Wars |
| title_sort | tales of the past russian children s literature abroad between the two world wars |
| topic | Russian children's literature Fairy tale Alexander Pushkin Hans Christian Andersen Russian publishing houses in Europe |
| url | https://revistas.usp.br/rus/article/view/235386 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT annadimianenko talesofthepastrussianchildrensliteratureabroadbetweenthetwoworldwars |