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Old 01-17-2011, 10:50 PM   #15
Gorgeous George
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 464
United Kingdom
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Re: Keanu Reeves to Rape Japanese Culture (Remake of "47 Ronin")

Quote:
Katherine Derbyshire wrote: View Post
Not true. Literacy rates in Soviet Russia grew steadily from the Revolution until the fall of Communism.

Cinema was a powerful form of propaganda, but compulsory, state-run education was even more powerful.

Katherine
Haha.
I didn't contend the contrary.

I read - in a respected history book - about how the fascists/Communists travelled throughout Russia (a very backwards place), with portable cinemas, because the people weren't able to read, hence written propaganda was useless.
There were attempts to get the few literate peasants to teach others, but these were unsuccessful.
Later educational reforms - aiming to increase literacy - were enacted, like all else, only for the sake of the State: those who can read, can read propaganda...

Some interesting reading:

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclo...1918-1929.html

http://www.essortment.com/all/sovietpropagand_rboc.htm

I wouldn't have thought that a 'steady increase in literacy rates' in Russia, from 1917 to 1990, was a resounding success: these people were largely ignorant peasants - serfs, until it was nearly the 20th century; even post-'emancipation', they were little more than isolated, parochial farmers.
Bertrand Russell's account of his visit to Russia in 1920 is excellent: he speaks of the peasants' dismay when the government took their food, to replace it only with paper (money), that they had no use for.
So I think a steady progress from this state of affairs, is not really befitting a nation with nuclear weapons.

But you know: there was ambiguity in my statement - I wasn't referring to the entire history of the Soviet Union; I meant the early years, mainly.
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