ЧИТАТЕЛЬСКИЕ ОБЪЕДИНЕНИЯ В СТРАНАХ СОЦИАЛИЗМА КАК СФЕРА ИНТЕРЕСОВ ВСЕСОЮЗНОГО ОБЩЕСТВА КНИГОЛЮБОВ

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis of the relations of power and society in the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s, the history of mass voluntary organizations of the late socialism, and the studies of Soviet cultural diplomacy. The process of formation of the international activity of the All-Union Society of Book Lovers (1974–1992) is in the focus of the study. Reports on the reception and dispatch of delegations, plans for foreign partnerships, and responses to requests to Soviet ambassadors in the Eastern Bloc states became sources for the article. Collaboration with foreign organizations – associations of readers, clubs of subscribers at publishing houses, communities of bibliophiles, etc. – began with a detailed consideration of their activities. The international activity of the Society of Book Lovers included the reception of high-ranking foreign guests, sending Soviet groups to socialist countries, and participation in important events in the sphere of reading, such as international exhibitions, national weeks of books, etc. International relations were a way for the leadership of the Society of Book Lovers to present Soviet culture, a basis for comparing the principles of functioning of associations of readers, and sources for determining the position of a new mass organization within the USSR. The experience of some of the partners was marked as unsuitable for the Society of Soviet Book Lovers, as it was associated with stimulating consumption. Against this background, the book shortage was presented as a feature of the Soviet reading culture. As ambassadors of the megastructure, representatives of the Society of Book Lovers noticed any manifestations of disunity, at the same time building close relations with large centralized associations, for example, the Cultural Association of the GDR.