“As if I visited my childhood”: Mnemonic effects of cultural recycling of Soviet children's books

Abstract

In this article the process of cultural recycling is discussed using the case of children`s books. The focus of the research is on the reprinting of Soviet children's literature during 2007-2019, as well as readers' reviews of these reprinted editions. Analysis of the print runs reveals that Kornei Chukovsky, Agniia Barto, Samuil Marshak, Nikolai Nosov and Alexander Volkov were the five top best-selling Soviet children's authors in this period. Hence their works may be considered the core of the Soviet literary canon for children. Social practices that support conservation and reproduction of the canon of children's reading are discussed. Publishers devote book series to the reprints of Soviet works and engage in the selection of the reprinted authors. Readers, for their part, compile retrospective reading lists, compare modern reprinted versions with the original editions (looking for mismatches in text and illustrations), and pay attention to editors' comments in the reprinted editions. Nostalgic discourse about Soviet children's books serves contemporary Russian parents to reinforce their group identity based on the common reading experience in childhood. The preservation and revival of a book is enabled by three key features: a weak connection of the book's content to the Soviet political agenda, a renowned illustrator and recognizable book design, and, finally, adult nostalgia for the book read in childhood.