How does Cultural Transfer in Pedagogics Work? Review of the Book.: Dorena Caroli. De Amicis in Russia. La ricezione nel sistema scolastico zarista e sovietico. Roma: Carocci editore, 2020

Abstract

The present review analyses a recent monograph "De Amicis in Russia. La ricezione nel sistema scolastico zarista e sovietico" by Dorena Caroli. The book is dedicated to the investigation of how the ideas of humanist school,
expressed by the 19 th century Italian writer and educator Edmondo De Amicis, influenced the school system transformations in the pre-revolutionary and in the Soviet Russia. The review consequently puts into light the theoretical basis of the monograph (mostly, the theory of cultural transfer), its structure, the style of the author and the results of the research. The author puts the question of De Amicis’ ideas reception in a broad cultural context, thus the study offers a deep insight into the school system evolution in the czarist Russia and the Soviet state and a broad map of children book market at the end of the 19 th century. The monograph highlights a universal nature of De Amicis’ ideas which for amost a century through a number of translations and adaptations served as a source for the school system renovation in Russia in various social and political contexts.

Keywords: Edmondo De Amicis, cultural transfer, ideal school, humanist pedagogy, school system in Russia, translation and adaptation