Популяризация научного знания в СССР в 1945–1975 гг.: между социальным заказом и академической культурой = Popularization of Scientific Knowledge in the USSR 1945–1975: Between Social Order and Academic Culture

Korzun, Valentina and Limanova, Svetlana and Nosova, Marina (2024) Популяризация научного знания в СССР в 1945–1975 гг.: между социальным заказом и академической культурой = Popularization of Scientific Knowledge in the USSR 1945–1975: Between Social Order and Academic Culture. RUSSIANSTUDIES.HU, 6 (2). pp. 115-132. ISSN 2677-0660

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Abstract

The authors of this article focus on the phenomenon of the popularization of Soviet science and scientists in the USSR during the period of time from 1945 to 1975. The popularization of science is presented as a complex phenomenon within the mechanisms the government was employing to exercise control over all aspects of society. Science itself is presented as a communicative system permeated by a multitude of dialogues. Drawing on a historiographical analysis of the literature, the authors focus on internal aspects of the process whereby the sciences were popularized. Since significant anniversaries are occasions that trigger public interest in science and the fate of scientists, the focus of this paper is on the period between two anniversaries of the (USSR) Academy of Sciences: the 220th in 1945 and the 250th. It analyses communicative platforms used within this chronological period such as the magazines Knowledge is Power, Science and Life and Crocodile. These periodicals form the source base for research along with archival materials (from the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian State Archive of Modern History), and diaries and memoirs of foreign and domestic participants of the anniversary celebrations. The article draws conclusions: 1) about the predominance of interest in exact and natural sciences, 2) about the presentation of various images of science promulgated in the pages of popular publications and at the jubilee academic forums, and 3) about the connection of the popularization of science with the formation of a classic pantheon of scientists.

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