The Pedagogy of Images

Depicting Communism for Children

Marina Balina, Serguei A. Oushakine

$170

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

University of Toronto Press
21 June 2021

Literary studies: from c 1900 -; Children's literature studies: general

Series: Studies in Book and Print Culture

In the 1920s, with the end of the revolution, the Soviet government began investing resources and energy into creating a new type of book for the first generation of young Soviet readers. In a sense, these early books for children were the ABCs of Soviet modernity; creatively illustrated and intricately designed, they were manuals and primers that helped the young reader enter the field of politics through literature. Children's books provided the basic vocabulary and grammar for understanding new, post-revolutionary realities, but they also taught young readers how to perceive modern events and communist practices.

Relying on a process of dual-media rendering, illustrated books presented propaganda as a simple, repeatable narrative or verse, while also casting it in easily recognizable graphic images. A vehicle of ideology, object of affection, and product of labour all in one, the illustrated book for the young Soviet reader emerged as an important cultural phenomenon. Communist in its content, it was often avant-gardist in its form.

Spotlighting three thematic threads

communist goals, pedagogy, and propaganda

The Pedagogy of Images traces the formation of a mass-modern readership through the creation of the communist-inflected visual and narrative conventions that these early readers were meant to appropriate.

Edited by: Marina Balina, Serguei A. Oushakine
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 260mm, Width: 184mm, Spine: 44mm
Weight: 1.360kg
ISBN: 9781487506681
ISBN 10: 1487506686
Series: Studies in Book and Print Culture
Pages: 568
Publication Date: 21 June 2021
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Marina Balina is a professor of Russian Studies at Illinois Wesleyan University and holds the Isaac Funk professorship. Serguei Alex. Oushakine is a professor of Anthropology and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University.

Reviews for The Pedagogy of Images: Depicting Communism for Children

""One reason this book makes a significant contribution to studies on children’s literature and culture is its remarkable interdisciplinary approach. A persuasive picture of the complicated conditions in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s and their influence on children’s literature can only be conveyed if the political, social, historical, and cultural circumstances are considered and related to one another –which this collection has succeeded in doing to a convincing degree."" -- Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer, University of Tübingen * International Research in Children's Literature * ""This magnificent, beautifully produced volume contains over 250 period illustrations, bringing the object of its important and innovative scholarship to life… The enduring value of this edited volume will be both its scholarship and its stunning visuality and ‘gaze-appeal’"" -- Megan Swift, University of Victoria * The Russian Review * ""For decades to come, The Pedagogy of Images will remain a go-to resource on the early Soviet picture books for literature scholars, historians of public education, researchers of totalitarian art, librarians, and graphic artists."" -- Olga Voronina, Bard College * Slavic Review * “Covering important topics about Soviet children’s books, this book has made brilliant achievements in the study of children’s literature. It will also open a new horizon for the broader field of Soviet history if one incorporates it into the study of Soviet culture in general.” -- Michiko Komiya * Acta Slavica Japonica *

Winner of 2023 Best Edited Multi-Author Scholarly Volume Awarded by American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages 2024 (United States)
Winner of 2023 Best Edited Multi-Author Scholarly Volume Awarded by the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages 2024 (United States)