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Об изучении фронтового поколения
The article is devoted to studies of the World War ii front-line generation in the ussr according to various academic disciplines: sociology, military-historical anthropology, cultural anthropology of childhood and the institutional histories of schools and the Komsomol. It reveals quite different approaches and conclusions by each of these disciplines about the formation, qualities and historical role of this generation. Influential Russian experts in the cultural anthropology of childhood and the institutional history of schools often write that the institutional environment of schools and the Komsomol was particularly unhealthy, vicious and despotic in the 1930s; the result, they argue, was a generation with a particular, often flawed, psychological orientation. This interpretation conflicts with the opinions of a number of historians who emphasize the constructive aspects of Soviet work with children, as well as with the conclusions of military-historical anthropologists about the exceptionally high civil and combat qualities of representatives of this generation and its decisive role in ensuring the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. The prospect for further research is seen in a broader correlation of the phenomenon of young front-line soldiers of the ussr with similar ones that took place in other countries, as well as in the development of interdisciplinary cooperation among scientists studying its different aspects. 2024308 [CSS-2024-58.4] 004-Volkova-proof-01 [version 20240829 date 20240829 15:44] page 2 2 volkova Canadian-American Slavic Studies 58 (2024) 1–35 Keywords frontline generation – generational characteristics – contradictions in estimates – the prospect of investigation