The creation of S. Marshak’s poem “Ice-cream”

Abstract

The article compares seven versions of S. Marshak’s poem for children “Ice Cream”. Three of them (1925, 1940 and 1957) are recognized as the canonical editions, and others (of the 1929, 1949, 1960.1962) as their variants. The final version for posthumous publications is ascribed, without any reason given, to 1960 production year, with deviations taken from different publications of this text. The article analyzes the reasons underlining such transformation of the text that include changes in realia, social tastes and mores, stylistic and ideological tendencies of the 20th century, and the poet’s desire to harmonize his creative attitudes with external factors. The analysis demonstrates that although the editing process of the text was organic, the difference between editions is so great (only 30 verses are shared between all of the editions) that the reproduction of all versions is needed for scholarly and the critical editions of Marshak’s poetry. His editing method is compensatory: the plot and style varied, but the philosophical and ethical subtext important for Marshak as a creative individual remained the same. These are archetypal ideas of joyful acceptance of the objective laws of nature, the glorification of those who support world harmony, and the condemnation of those who violate it. The appendix contains a comparative table showing the history of Marshak’s text.

Keywords: S. Marshak, literature for children, history of creation, soviet literature, Russian literature of 20th century