Aleksandra Ivanovna Ermolova,
Assistant, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
“Our Class is the Most Friendly”: Schoolchildren of Tomsk Writing to a Newspaper (1960–1970s)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2021-1-18
The article attempts to analyze the notes of Tomsk schoolchildren in the regional newspaper “Young Leninist”, published in the 1960s and 1970s. The topic of publications is analyzed, and the problems that were of interest to children are identified. In total, 112 notes were found, which can be considered within the framework of four genre-thematic areas: pioneer and Komsomol activities, forms of educational and pedagogical work at school, answers to editorial questions, and letters from children. It is concluded that most often students wrote about the successes and deeds of the Pioneer and Komsomol organizations. The description of educational process ranked second. The children wrote about the content of some lessons, industrial practice, participation in military-patriotic games. Both of these blocks are characterized rather by the official style of narration. Children’s letters to the newspaper differ significantly from them. Such letters are not only the most emotional material, they are also texts that almost completely lack topics of a socio-political nature, preferring to discuss friendship, hobbies, and even love. Children’s notes to the newspaper “Young Leninist” is an interesting source of diverse information that allows to look at the life of the younger generation of a provincial Soviet city in the second half of the 20th century through the eyes of the children themselves.
Publishing: 28/02/2021
The article has been received by the editor on 15.12.2020
How to cite: Ermolova A.I. “Our Class is the Most Friendly”: Schoolchildren of Tomsk Writing to a Newspaper (1960–1970s) // Historical Courier, 2021, No. 1 (15), pp. 225–230. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2021/ISTKURIER-2021-1-18.pdf
Links: Issue 1 2021
Keywords: childhood; the second half of the 20th century; periodicals; Tomsk; education; upbringing; pioneer and Komsomol work