"Nadwiślański socrealizm" (Polish socialist realism), The Character of Lenin and the Picture of Revolution in Textbook Stories for Young Children

Abstract

In her work, “Nadwiślański socrealizm (Polish socialist realism), The Character of Lenin and the Picture of Revolution in Textbook Stories for Young Children”, Dorota Michułka discusses literary texts in schoolbooks, especially those depicting role models that helped the authorities in their fight for the minds and souls, becoming the most effective tool of ideological persuasion and the formation of “a new man” in the spirit of the new system. Tendentious texts about Lenin and the revolution relied on the strategy of stereotyping to build a clear idea of a perfect human being. The authors of those stories used the convention of black-and-white presentations, “artistic sociology”, clear subject matter, mimesis, and trite motifs and devices, but arguably the most effective means of manipulation was the pompous, euphoric, and persuasive language, which was an extremely effective method of influencing the emotions of the young reader, thus shaping the positive attitude of the child towards socialist ideology.

Keywords: Polish socialist realism, revolution, history, Lenin, artistic sociology, mimesis, manipulation, censorship, stereotype, ideology