Ideology in Constructivist children’s book illustrations in the Soviet Union (1920-1930)

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of Constructivist   illustration in children's books from the 1920s and early 1930s, providing a semiotic analysis of the morphological characteristics of images within the political and historical context of the period. Emphasizing the explicit and implicit ideological meanings conveyed through depicted subjects, we analyse the choices made by Constructivist   artists in using elements like lines, shapes, and colours to transmit ideas aligned with the Soviet Union's regime. Two illustrative examples are examined, representing distinct phases of the Constructivist movement. The first, from Vladimir Lebedev's 1925 publication Vchera i Segodnya [Yesterday and Today], showcases the artist's influence on the Golden Age of children's books in Russia. This period marked a pivotal shift, with avant-garde art directed towards children as a distinct audience. The second example, Alexey Laptev's Pyatiletka [Five-Year Plan], published in 1930, represents the transitional phase of Constructivist   illustration toward socialist realism. This picturebook incorporates the evolving nature of the movement amidst changing socio-political landscapes. Through a semiotic lens, the paper examines the ways in which these illustrations reflect and contribute to the ideological currents of their respective eras, shedding light on the relationship between art and ideology in children's book during a transformative period in Soviet Union’s history.

Keywords: Picturebooks, illustrations, ideology, Constructivism, Soviet Union