The Diary of a Communist Schoolboy by N. Ognyov in American Criticism of the 1920s

Abstract

Svetlana Maslinskaia's article on “The Diary of a Communist Schoolboy by N. Ognyov in American Criticism of the 1920s” examines critical approaches to the book that were published in the left-oriented press in the United States in 1928. She claims that the literary innovations of the novel were overshadowed by the critics’ focus on the nature of Soviet era educational experimentations, thus making the main focus on realia, rather on literary form and new stylistics.

Keywords: N. Ognyov, M. G. Rozanov, Kostya Ryabtsev, The Diary of a Communist Schoolboy, Alexander Werth, children`s literature criticism, children’s literature of the 1920s, school novella, international literary contact, educational experiments.