Acknowledgements
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project no 18-52-15031 НЦНИ аnd the FICUSOV Joint Research Project 1917–1941 (Financing of Soviet Culture) CNRS — UMR Eur’ORBEM.
Abstract
The analysis of the copyright payments made by “Academia” sheds new light on certain key aspects of the publishing activity. In direct contradiction with the ideology of the socialist construction, the pecuniary motivation of these men of letters appears to have had a subtle but nevertheless important impact on the production of“Academia.” One could even go so far as to suggest that in certain cases, the desire for the personal gain was the key factor in publishing decisions made by the press. The principle of a revolutionary editorial policy is ultimately nothing but an illusion, serving to conceal practices which have very little to do with “socialism.”
References
1 Arias-Vikhil’ A. Ob istorii sozdaniia termina “sotsialisticheskii realizm” i podgotovke pervogo s''ezda sovetskikh pisatelei: stenogramma besedy I.M. Gronskogo s sotrud- nikami Arkhiva A.M. Gor’kogo [On the history of the term “socialist realism” and the preparation for the first Soviet Writers Congress: Transcript of the conversation of I.M. Gronsky with the staff of the A.M.Gorky Archive]. In: Codex manuscriptus. Stat’i i arkhivnye publikatsii [Codex manuscriptus: articles and archival publications]. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2019, issue 1, pp. 66–114. (In Russ.)
2 Vlast’ i khudozhestvennaia intelligentsiia: dokumenty TsK RKP(b) — VKP(b), VChK — OGPU — NKVD o kul’turnoi 1917–1953 [State power and artistic intelligentsia: documents of the Central Committee of CK RKP(b) — VKP(b), VChK — OGPU — NKVD on cultural policy: 1917–1953], comp. by A. Artizov, O. Naumov. Moscow, MFD Publ., 1999. 872 p. (In Russ.)
3 Gvichchardini Sochineniia [Works], introd., ed. by A.K. Dzhivelegov; transl., comm. by M.S. Fel’dshtein. Moscow, Academia Publ., 1934. 552 p. (In Russ.)
4 Hugo Otverzhennye: v 5 t. [Les Misérables: in 5 vols.]; transl. under the ed., introd. by A.K. Vinogradov. Moscow, Academia Publ., 1931. (In Russ.)
5 Krylov V., Kichatova E.V. Izdatel’stvo “Academia”. Liudi i knigi, 1921 — 1938 — 1991 [“Academia” Publishing. People and Books, 1921 — 1938 — 1991]. Moscow, Academia Publ., 2004. 321 p. (In Russ.)
6 Manelis L.K. Izdatel’stvo “Academia” i ego produktsiia: avtoref. dis … kand. ist. nauk [“Academia” Publishing and its products: PhD thesis, summary]. Moscow, 24 p. (In Russ.)
7 Protasov Iu. Infliatsiia v ekonomike SSSR: priroda, tsiklicheskaia dinamika, uroki dlia sovremennoi Rossii [Inflation in the USSR economy: nature, cyclical dynamics, lessons for modern Russia]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta, 2011. Ser. 5: Eco- nomics, no 4, pp. 116–129. (In Russ.)
8 Rats V., Fomin D.V. Kak rabotalo izdatel’stvo “Academia” i kak v nem rabotalos’. Vospominaniia sotrudnikov i khudozhnikov [How the “Academia” publisher worked and how it felt to work there. Memories of employees and artists]. In: Kniga. Issle- dovaniia i materialy [The book. Research and materials], Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2008, no 88/2, pp. 186–205. (In Russ.)
9 Rubens P. Pis’ma [Letters], transl. by A.A. Akhmatova, comm. by V.D. Zagoskina and M.I. Fabrikant, introd. by V.N. Lazarev, ed. and pref. by A.M. Efros. Moscow, Leningrad, Academia Publ., 1933. 342 p. (In Russ.)
10 Chislennost’ i zarabotnaia plata rabochikh i sluzhashchikh SSSR [The number and salaries of workers and employees in the USSR]. Moscow, Redaktsionno-izdatel’skoe upravlenie TsUNKhU Gosplana SSSR i V/O “Soiuzorguchet” , 1936. 312 p. (In Russ.)
11 Chukovskii Dnevnik (1930–1969) [The diary (1930–1969)]. Moscow, Sovremennyi pisatel’ Publ., 1995. 558 p. (In Russ.)
12 Genette Seuils. Paris, Éditions du Seuil, coll. “Poétique” (rééd. dans la collection “Points Essais”), 1987. 388 p. (In French)
13 Rolet Les éditions “Academia” et la littérature étrangère. In: Le rapport à l’étranger dans la littérature et les arts soviétiques (ETRANSOV), ed. by M.-C. Autant-Mathieu. Éd. CNRS, 2012, pp. 83–95. (In French). Available at: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ halshs-00759526v1 (Accessed 25 October 2020)
14 Rolet S. Le projet de publication de la trilogie de Jules Vallès aux éditions “Academia” (1934–1936/39). In: L’étranger dans les arts et la culture soviétique, by M.-C. Autant-Mathieu. Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2014, pp. 75–84. (In French)
15 Truel L’œuvre de Victor Hugo en Russie et en URSS: thèse de doctorat. Université de Lille, 2017. (In French)