From technicians to classics: on the rationalization of the Russian language in the USSR (1917-1953)

In the 1920s, rationalization is a very fashionable word in the Soviet Union. Under the influence of the 'movement for the scientific organization of labour', industry tries to obtain a maximum of productivity and profitability with a minimum expenditure of means. During these years, this rationalizing process was applied to the Russian language as well: several texts in the 1920s suggested rationalizing the Russian language. The purpose was to remove from the language all useless and needless words, to gain clarity and efficiency. But such texts seem to disappear in the 1930s, in spite of this being a period of great industrial rationalization in the USSR. This article aims at proposing an explanation for this paradox, pointing out the evolution of the conception of language and state between the 1920s and 1930s.