Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Literary-Instructional Trains

Preview image of work. lithograph on paper, Literary-Instructional Trains 33042

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Literary-Instructional Trains

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Artist

Artist Unidentified (Russian)

Title

Literary-Instructional Trains

Creation Date

ca.1920

Century

early 20th century

Dimensions

28 x 21 1/2 in. (71.12 x 54.61 cm)

Object Type

Creation Place

Asia, Russia

Medium and Support

lithograph on paper

Credit Line

Generously lent by Svetlana and Eric Silverman ’85, P’19

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

This poster’s text reads in part: “The living, spoken word, books, pictures, theater—everything which can carry a little light into the countryside and the dark corners of Russia—that is what the literary-instructional train carries.” It refers to the new distribution forms including trains, barges, vans, and cars, which carried activists, pamphlets, and cinematic equipment to the far corners of Russia. Used for the ideological conditioning of the populace, mass-media agitational propaganda was injected into all aspects of public and private life. At its height, the propaganda campaign included agitation messages on candy wrappers, cigarette cartons, and other types of merchandise packaging. The effort was overseen by the Department of Agitation and Propaganda, which had been established in 1920 by the Central Committee—the highest body of the Communist Party.