Matthew Jesse Jackson and Robert Bird Look at Soviet Children’s Books

Matthew Jesse Jackson, Assistant Professor of Art History & Visual Arts, and Robert Bird, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures & Department Chair, discuss their research project on 1930s Soviet children’s literature in the Jan-Feb University of Chicago Magazine.

Unofficially regulated by the government, the books almost always flattered the state, Bird says, and depicted “total rationalization of nature.” Soviet institutions became a frequent focus: transportation, electricity, libraries. The books credited the 1917 Bolshevic Revolution for modernizing the country and making way for a better life.

Read the full story here.