“Bourgeois Nonsense”: Why Soviet Censorship Banned Kornei Chukovsky’s “The Muffin” One of the most popular children's poetry fairy tales known by every child today was under suspicion from Soviet officials and educators at the moment of its birth. Kornei Chukovsky’s “The Muffin,” written in 1923, did not just fail to reach readers immediately—it was officially banned by censorship and subjected to devastating criticism from the highest authorities. Why did such an innocent story about a fly finding a coin and throwing a birthday party provoke such anger in party circles? And how did this little masterpiece survive in the face of ideological pressure? The First Publication and the Immediate Scandal In 1923, Kornei Chukovsky first read his new fairy tale to friends and acquaintances. The audience was thrilled: rhythmic lines, vivid images, resounding rhymes—seemed like the perfect reading for children. However, the first attempt to publish “The Muffin” hit an insurmountable obstacle. The Provincial Department of Literature and Publishers (Gublit), performing the functions of censorship, categorically refused to grant permission for publication. A record of Chukovsky’s conversation with the Gublit employee Lyudmila Byストrova is preserved in his diary, who explained to the writer that the illustrations for the fairy tale were “improper”: the gnat stands too close to the fly, they “flirt.” “As if there is a child so morally corrupt that the proximity of the fly to the gnat would provoke licentious thoughts,” Chukovsky wrote in despair. But this was just the beginning. In 1924, the fairy tale was finally published—however, under the changed title “Mushina’s Wedding” and with cuts. However, this version did not give peace to the ideological guardians either. A real campaign against “The Muffin” unfolded later, and it involved not only ordinary censors but also the most influential figures in Soviet pedagogy and politics. The Attack of Kryukovskaya: “Chukovskianism” as ... Read more