Works by R. M. Akulshin for children and youth: ideas, plots, heroes

Abstract

The article examines the creative work of R. M. Akulshin during the 1920s and 1930s, fo cusing particularly on his understudied writings for children and youth. It analyzes the poetics, themes, plots, and imagery of these works, identifying the main features of the author’s artistic style. Special attention is paid to the combination of autobiographical motifs with the ideological orientation characteristic of Soviet literature of that period. The study shows how R. M. Akulshin, drawing on his personal experience of rural life, created images of conscious protagonists striving for knowledge and progress, contrasting them with the backward traditions of pre-revolutionary village life. Central to the analysis is the symbolism of technological advancement (aviation, ra dio, electricity), which in his works becomes an embodiment of the new Soviet reality. The au thor’s tendency to reuse plot fragments, descriptions, and lexical constructions is noted, lending his writings the features of a distinctive “literary etiquette”. The research emphasizes the signifi cance of R. M. Akulshin’s works in the formation of Soviet children’s literature and highlights the need for further study of his legacy, including archival materials related to the activities of “Detgiz”. This article represents one of the first comprehensive studies of the writer’s chil dren’s works and contributes to the scholarship on the literary history of the 1920s and 1930s.