A Sword with Two Edges: The Role of Children's Literature in the Writings of N. K. Krupskaia

Abstract

N. K. Krupskaia played an important role in the development of a Soviet children's literature. She did this by both ideological persuasion and administrative intervention in her capacity as a leading Communist official. The thrust of her efforts was to reorient the writing of Russian juvenile books to the service of the Soviet modernization efforts, by using children's literature to effect changes in the basic motivations of its readers, changes in their political socialization, and changes in their technical knowledge. Her implicit faith in the efficacy of children's literature for behavior modification parallels similar attittudes on the part of a number of Western students of the field.