The death of Pushkin number two: the Russians supported the “repression” against the classics

An urgent poll was conducted among Russians about the exclusion of Russian classics from the Unified State Examination next year. Citizens are warmly in favour. 63% supported the opinion that Pushkin should no longer be on the Unified State Examination, 13% were against it. 24% don’t care.

We were the first to write about the blatant and inexplicable exclusion of the “golden age” of Russian classics – Griboedov, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol and others from the draft final exam in literature for next year. How can this be? Or is it a mistake?

Nothing wrong, as it turns out. And now it turns out that this did not happen by chance, but in full accordance with the “wishes of the working people”, who spoke exclusively positively about removing Russian classics from the school final exam.

After the scandal began, a survey was urgently conducted among Russians, TASS writes about its results.

The survey was conducted among 5,000 residents of all Russian regions over 18 years old. Recall that 140 million people live in Russia. That is, they asked about the opinion of 0.003% of citizens, and based on it they made a conclusion.

Details – what kind of people they were and by what criteria they were interviewed, as well as who ordered the study, are not specified.

It’s one thing to ask teachers of literature or people with higher education, and quite another – visitors to a pub early in the morning from a hangover. Or state employees on a salary who will say and do everything that the authorities require of them.

Remember the excerpt from Mark Zakharov’s film “Kill the Dragon”, where Mayor Leonova is interested in the independent opinion of the best people in the city, who “have been waiting around the corner since yesterday evening.”

“But how, it goes without saying, yes,” one of the “best people” answers the question, without even listening to what they say to him, if he would not like Lancelot to immediately leave and not fight the Dragon.

The compilers of the USE explain that they removed “our everything” for purely practical reasons: since Pushkin, Lermontov and others are included in the USE in literature for the 9th grade, then they are, as it were, not needed at the next exam. The children have already passed them.

Officials did not take into account the main thing – only 20% of those who take the USE in literature after the 11th, passed the USE in literature after the 9th. That is, they can remember something, but they are not required at all.

But it is the Unified State Examination (by no means the OGE!) in literature, in addition, that is also an entrance exam to specialized universities, philological, pedagogical, journalistic. It turns out that now young people will be accepted there, who, in principle, could not read anything, starting from The Tale of Igor’s Campaign and ending with all the authors of the first half of the 19th century.

They explain to us that this is done for the benefit of schoolchildren, who are already too overloaded. Well, yes, family studies, compulsory labor – Pushkin was still not enough in this list!

Another third of the respondents warmly welcome the fact that the literature exam will focus on more modern and relevant works that educate citizenship and patriotism. Almost half (46%) of the total number of respondents suggest adding even more military-patriotic works to the school curriculum. Again, at the expense of Pushkin.

But what does Pushkin teach? Isn’t he a patriot?

In fact, the great Russian literature has always been dangerous, because it asked too many questions and did not give ready-made polished answers, it taught to think and reflect, reflect, analyze, argue. It was a time bomb for raising smart and thinking people. Especially if you read the same Griboyedov. “Who are the judges?” – Chatsky, who returned from abroad, asks the mossy Moscow society. Trick question.

But how quickly, however, the “new Molchalins” arrived in time with a survey – and three days have not passed. I don’t think that Pushkin was removed on purpose from the very beginning, but now they definitely won’t return him. Return – admit defeat. But our officials can’t do that.