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“Let the Little Children Come to Me”: (Anti-)Religious Films for Young Spectators of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Period

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Abstract

The article is a comparative analysis of three films focusing on anti-religious and religious propaganda (targeting both Orthodoxy and sectarianism) and featuring children among the main characters: The Miracle Worker (1960), Armageddon (1962) and Serafima’s Extraordinary Journey (2015). The three films feature a similar set of characters and artifacts which serve as the springboard for the unfolding of the individual plots. However, the techniques used in the characters’ portrayal are very different in each of the films, leading to contrasting outcomes. This article explores the way the characters are portrayed, including the use of discursive strategies and intertextual mechanisms, with special emphasis given to the propaganda characteristic of the different periods in the country’s history. It highlights the reversal of values between Soviet and post-Soviet societies, resulting in a drastic change in the didactic messages conveyed by cinema over these 50+ years.

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Notes

  1. Suffice it to remember Lenin’s famous saying that “cinema is the most important of all arts for us” (Boltyansky, 1925, p. 19).

  2. It should be noted that the Russian word “krestyanin” (peasant) is a derivative of “khristianin” (Christian).

  3. Originally connected with the idea of Moscow as the Third Rome and the universal Christian idea of an Empire of Faith, “Holy Rus” (literally “Holy Russia”) has developed today into a transcendental concept of a unifying national force and inter-confessional dialogue based on common moral and spiritual values. For more details on the evolution of the concept, see Cherniavsky (1958); Phillips (2009).

  4. See, for instance, the speeches delivered by Vladimir Putin on 2 February 2016 at the opening ceremony of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church (Putin, 2016), or by Putin and Patriarch Cyril at the occasion of the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of Saint Sergius of Radonezh (Patriarch Cyril, 2014).

  5. It should be noted that the local priest Father Dimitry calls the teacher “Paraskovia” thus alluding to her patron saint, whose existence she denies.

  6. A fool for Christ (“yurodivyi” in Russian) is an ascetic who takes on an unusual style of life, appearing as someone bereft of his or her mental faculties, thus bringing upon himself or herself the ridicule of others in order to battle the sin of pride, and expose evil through metaphorical and symbolic words and actions (Slobodskoy, 1993). Such characters are often encountered in Russian literature. See, for instance, Boris Godunov by Pushkin, or Demons by Dostoyevsky.

  7. Kaloyan is the name of an intermediary between people and the god of rain. Women make a clay doll and perform a ritual burial accompanied by lamentations. After being buried near a well, Kaloyan’s figure is then dug out of the ground after three days and thrown into the water.

  8. Sergius (Stargorodsky), vice-guardian of the Patriarchal Throne (Patriarchal Locum Tenens) from 1927 to 1943, was also Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia from 1943 until his death in 1944.

  9. Hieromonk Vassily, Monk Trofim and Monk Ferapont were murdered by a Satanist on Easter night, 1993. Since that time they have been deeply venerated as martyrs by the Orthodox community, especially at the Optina monastery. However, so far they have not been officially canonized.

  10. A kolkhoz was a collective farm in the USSR formed as a result of forced collectivization.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Father Valentin Ulyakhin for his sage counsel and support in the preparation of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, 10/2, Miklukho-Maklay Street, Moscow, 117198, Russia

    Natalia Naydenova

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  1. Natalia Naydenova
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Correspondence to Natalia Naydenova.

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Natalia Naydenova is an Associate Professor at the Philological Department at Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow. Her research incorporates education and teaching methods as well as religious aspects of children’s literature and other media.

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Naydenova, N. “Let the Little Children Come to Me”: (Anti-)Religious Films for Young Spectators of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Period. Child Lit Educ 48, 308–325 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-016-9284-4

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