Children’s poetry in bookstores in the Moscow region

Abstract

A retail bookshop is a complex object the intersection of different social expectations: it is simultaneously part of the system of economic exchange and mass consumption, and the system of cultural relations and values. The article presents the results of a field study conducted in bookshops of Moscow and Moscow Region. The study sought to collect the information about the diversity of titles of children’s poetry and the names of poets and illustrators. The design styles of publications of children’s ‘classic’ and contemporary poets were compared. We were interested in the following issues: everyday practices of children’s and adults’ reading and familiarization with books available for retail purchase; ways in which mass preferences are represented by the studied selection of books; and the influence of publishers’ and stores’ particular business choices on the segmentation of the consumer audience. The study showed that the diversity of books of a certain type in retail chain stores is more apparent than real. The majority of books are by a limited list of authors, and there is a large percentage of ‘hidden reprinting’ (i. e., the use of a limited set of layouts under different covers). The virtual absence of books by contemporary authors does not allow buyers to get a complete picture of the state of children’s poetry and illustration. The small selection of books can lead to serious long-term consequences — e. g., a certain part of society may develop stable but wrong ideas about the ‘correct’ or ‘good’ illustration in books and about the list of ‘significant’.