October 10, 2013

Spelling Reform: Who Gets the Credit?


Spelling Reform: Who Gets the Credit?

Today is the 95-year anniversary of the Sovnarkom decree that required the use of a new, simplified orthography, dated October 10, 1918.

If someone accustomed to modern Russian picks up any publication that’s more than 100 years old, they are immediately struck by the mass of unfamiliar symbols: the silly-looking ѣ/ѣ (yat’), the Latin-like i, the excess ъ, not to mention a few unusual spelling choices for common endings. Once the initial shock passes, however, it turns out that the publication is quite readable, even as the rules for using these extra letters remain baffling, even mysterious.

 

Old orthography: deceptively Russian-looking

Who do we thank for not having to worry about those rules anymore? Open up a Soviet-era textbook on the Russian language, and all praise goes to the usual suspects: the Bolsheviks and the Great October Socialist Revolution. They even have the decrees to prove it: first the Commissariat of Education decree from December 23, 1917, requiring the use of new spelling in all government publications by the start of the new year, and then the Council of People’s Commissars’ decree from October 10, 1918, detailing how spelling reform was to be implemented for everyone.

Yet it just so happens that this reform, unlike other radical changes implemented by the Bolsheviks, had been in the works for quite some time. The first official rumblings of a reform came as early as 1904, eventually resulting in a full-fledged commission and a published report regarding desirable reforms, published in 1912, when the October Revolution was but a gleam in Lenin’s eye. The tsar’s ministers opposed the idea, seeing anti-Slavic tendencies in the call for removal of traditionally Slavic letters – and according to them, an attack on Slavic heritage was an attack on the entire conservative government.

The February Revolution swept that resistance away. Haltingly, the spelling reform moved forward, announced by the Provisional Government on May 11, 1917. Civil servants grumbled that they had “better things to do,” and rumors spread that the reform was not actually in force, but the fact remains: the official implementation of the spelling reform was the Provisional Government’s doing.

 

Anatoly Vasilievich Lunacharsky, People’s Commissar of Education,
signer of the Bolshevik decree on spelling reform

That being said, let’s give credit where credit is due, all propaganda aside. The Bolsheviks may not have been the authors of the new rules, but they took on enforcing them. Publishing was centralized by force, with the offending letters confiscated from typefaces ("step away from the yat!"), and a literacy campaign taught millions to read the new spellings. Heavy-handed enforcement was more than justified. In the Bolsheviks’ worldview, the new orthography was to become a symbol of the New World Order, of new proletarian thought and culture. Old pre-revolutionary books would become unreadable, diminishing their cultural value. Who needs those bourgeois, decadent, capitalist-imperialist books anyway?

(Of course, the classics were reprinted in the new orthography. The main benefit? War and Peace is now about 11 pages shorter.)


Image credits: Eugenia Sokolskaya, Wikimedia Commons

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955