“Pictures for Consolation”: Graphic design of collections of riddles created by soviet poets of the 1920s-30s.

Abstract

In this article the authorized collections of poetic riddles published in Russian on the territory of the USSR in the period of the 1920s-the first half of the 1930s are reviewed and analyzed. The characteristic features of their graphic design are at the core of the investigation. Methodologically, such a study requires a broad range of sources, from book examination to the exploration of art, philological analyses, and research of various sources. This present research was based on the materials of the Russian State Library collections. The authors of riddles, as a rule, worked in line with the folklore tradition. Illustrators mostly ignored the experience of their predecessors. Often, artists compulsively suggested the answer to the reader, depriving the child of the opportunity to find it on her/his own. As a result, fascinating exercises for “mental gymnastics” turned into a banal album of visual aids, in which images of objects for some reason were accompanied by their allegorical rhymed description. Special attention is given to the works of artists who managed to avoid this mistake and inventively use the powerful game that was potentially inherent in the genre of riddles. Such list of artists include B. M. Kustodiev, V. M. Konashevich, N. A. Ushakova, L. V. Popova, M. M. Sinyakova, P. V. Williams, E. G. Dorfman, B. F. Tatarinov, L. A. Yudin,N. V. Gegello, T. N. Glebova.

Keywords: Collection of riddles, children’s book of the 1920s-30s, children’s literature, folklore tradition, book graphics, illustration, cover