A. KHANZHONKOV – THE FOUNDER OF MEDIA EDUCATION IN RUSSIA

Барская О. В.

ORCID: 0000-0003-2996-0251, аспирант,  Гуманитарно-педагогическая академия (филиал) ФГАОУ ВО «Крымский федеральный университет имени В.И. Вернадского», г. Ялта, Россия

А. ХАНЖОНКОВ – ОСНОВОПОЛОЖНИК МЕДИАОБРАЗОВАНИЯ В РОССИИ

Аннотация

Создание медиасреды как обязательного педагогического условия, обеспечивающего эффективный учебно-воспитательный процесс, является актуальным требованием современной образовательной практики. В статье, на основе ретроспективного анализа архивных источников, периодических, исторических и справочных изданий выявлена роль Александра Ханжонкова в становлении медиаобразования в Российской империи в начале XX столетия. Он впервые в России обнаружил социально-педагогический потенциал кинематографа и применил киноискусство в образовательных целях, предоставляя учебным заведениям киноленты научного и учебно-воспитательного характера. Особое внимание в статье уделено внедрению киноискусства в учебных заведениях военно-морского профиля.

Ключевые слова: А. Ханжонков, кинематограф, медиаобразование, военно-морские учебные заведения, начало XX века.

Barskaya O. V.

ORCID: 0000-0003-2996-0251, Postgraduate student, Humanitarian Pedagogical Academy of Federal State Autonomous Educational Establishment of Higher Education “Crimean Federal University after V. Vernadskiy”, Yalta, Russia

A. KHANZHONKOV – THE FOUNDER OF MEDIA EDUCATION IN RUSSIA

Abstract

The creation of media environment as indispensable pedagogical condition that ensures the effectiveness of educational process is a topical requirement of modern educational practice. In the study, the role of Alexander Khanzhonkov in the formation of media education in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century was revealed, based on a retrospective analysis of archival sources, periodical, historical and reference publications. For the first time in Russia he discovered the socio-pedagogical potential of cinema and applied cinema art for educational purposes, providing academic institutions with films of a scientific and educational nature. Particular attention in the article is paid to the introduction of cinematographic art in educational institutions of the naval profile.

Keywords: A. Khanzhonkov, cinematography, media education, naval educational institutions, the beginning of 20th century.

Itroduction

The relevance of the topic is not in doubt, since the modern educational environment is not able to assist the most effective teaching and educational process without such a component as media education. Media education is considered as a process of personal development with the help and on the material of mass communication with the aim of forming the culture of communication with media, creative abilities, critical thinking, full perception, interpretation, analysis and evaluation of media texts, teaching various forms of self-expression through media technology [9, P. 26]. In Russia, the experience of introduction media education elements in teaching and educational practice dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when A. Khanzhonkov (1877-1945) founded the Scientific and Military Departments at “A. Khanzhonkov and Co.” film studio in order to disseminate scientific knowledge, as well as to provide moral impact on the students of secondary, military and naval educational institutions, and also on the lower ranks of the Navy with the help of cinema art.

The aim of this study is – on the basis of archive sources, periodicals, historical and reference publications, to reveal the role of A. Khanzhonkov in the development of pedagogical experience of introducing cinema into educational practice by the example of education and training of lower ranks and naval school pupils of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century.

The methodological basis of the research is – general scientific methods of synthesis, analysis, comparison, generalization, interpretation of facts and phenomena, as well as historical-retrospective, bibliographic, chronological, personalistic-biographical, historical methods of scientific cognition.

Results

The development of cinematic art in Russia began in April 1896 with the advent of the country's first cinema equipment. But the first, who managed to reveal the social and pedagogical potential of this phenomenon and to lay the foundations of media education and upbringing in the Navy was Alexander Khanzhonkov, the founder of the joint-stock company “A. Khanzhonkov and Co.” in Moscow in 1906.

The personality of A. Khanzhonkov deserves special attention. He was born in 1877 in a family that belonged to an ancient Cossack dynasty. His grandfather had been personally acquainted with Alexander Pushkin, and his father had stood in the guard of honor during the coronation of Alexander II – those facts made A. Khanzhonkov very proud. He also connected his life with the military service. In 1896 A. Khanzhonkov graduated from Novocherkassk Higher Military School; was admitted to one of the best Cossack regiments – the First Donskoy in Moscow, and was promoted to an officer rank. He participated in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), after which he had to resign (1906) for health reasons. The amount of his severance pay was 5000 rubles, which he invested the same year in the development of cinematography in Russia by founding a studio for film production and distribution, as well as cinema equipment trading. The enterprise became very successful – in 6-year period its charter capital increased 100 times [7, P. 121]. The most outstanding results of the movie company activity until October 1917 are as follows: the publication of specialized magazines – “Herald of Cinematography”, “Cinema” (1910); release of the first full-length film in Russia (1 hour and 40 minutes) “The Defense of Sevastopol” about the Crimean War events of 1853-1856. (1911) [4]; opening of the first Scientific Cinematographic Department in Russia for scientific filming, where micro-cinematography and microscope, as well as chrono-camera was first used (1911); opening of the first Military Cinematographic Department in Russia for training, upbringing and leisure provision for lower ranks of the Army and Navy (1912); arrangement of Filmmakers Association (1912); creation of the first in Russia puppet, flat and voluminous cartoons, their sale to Europe (1913); opening of the largest in Russia and the first in Moscow “electric theater” “Pegasus” (1913); equipment of the first train in Russia for cinema screenings, with the aim of “effective dissemination of modern scientific knowledge among workers and peasants” (1916); foundation of Yalta film studio (1917) [4], [6, P. 30], [8].

Considering the aim of this study, we will examine in more detail the activities of A. Khanzhonkov’s company Scientific and Military Cinematographic Departments in the field of naval education. The Scientific Department, that opened in 1911, attracted leading experts in various fields of science, professors and teachers of Moscow University as consultants: Associate professors A. Bernstein, M. Shaternikov, T. Viazemsky, MD F. Andreev, V. Kanel, A. Korovin, microbiologist V. Lebedev [8]. With their help, production of educational and popular-science films on botany, geography and ethnography of Russia, medicine, zoology, agriculture, factory industry, physics, and chemistry was carried out. Such films aimed to enrich the audience with knowledge about their country, contributing to the patriotic mood, which, according to the staff of the film company opinion, had “enormous state and national significance” [5, P. 32]. The film of moral and ethical content “Drunkenness and its consequences” (1913), made to reinforce the active state anti-alcohol campaign, turned to be especially popular [10, P. 26]. It drew a truthful, scientifically sound perspective of the consequences of alcohol abuse. The materials from the collection of Moscow Anti-Alcohol Museum, experiments made in Khanzhonkov's own physiological laboratory, as well as elements of feature movies and special effects, helped to make the film clear and demonstrative.

The film “Drunkenness and its consequences”, together with other works by the Scientific Department, were offered for watching in military units and military schools. The implementation of the films was the task of the Military Cinematographic Department, established on September 1, 1912. Data on the work of the Military Department was found in the funds of Russian State Archives of the Navy, St. Petersburg [6, P. 1-106]. According to the memorandum written by A. Khanzhonkov to the Marine and Naval Ministry, it was proposed “to introduce cinema in the Navy as a powerful means of visual training and education for lower ranks ... with no expenses for the treasury” [6, P. 1-33] The Marine and Naval Ministry was required to provide the film studio with the detailed descriptions of the desired topics and scenarios, indicating the location of future filming and necessary accessories. Khanzhonkov offered not only to make films, but also to deliver cinematographic equipment to the fleet and take on training the lower ranks and the pupils of naval educational institutions to handle them [6, P. 4]. In response to such a proposal, the commission of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets, Naval Cadet Corps and the Naval Engineering School after Emperor Nicholas I representatives was created. Some members of the commission were reserved or even skeptical about the new educational technique; among them there was the Naval Cadet Corps Inspector, Major-General Krieger [6, P. 54] and the Chief of the Naval Engineering School Lieutenant-General Tyrtov [6, p. 72]. Nevertheless, based on the results of the commission work, the Marine and Naval Ministry recognized that “it was desirable to take advantage of A. Khanzhonkov's proposal not only for training the lower ranks, but also for disseminating information about the Navy to the public” [6, P. 33]. The agreement between the Ministry and Khanzhonkov Cinema House was signed in 1913, and, according to A. Khanzhonkov's report to the Chief of the Naval Headquarters, the cinema in the Navy was designed to perform the following tasks:

educational – outlook broadening in geography and history, acquaintance with various technological processes, visualization of activities on board a ship that have to be carried out by different ranks in different periods of their service;

cultural and leisure – “a great entertainment that can have a tremendous influence on the lower ranks in terms of educating them, both in purely naval and general matters”;

moral – “the education of lower ranks in the spirit of military discipline, sacredness of one’s duty, selflessness, courage and boundless devotion to the Tsar and Fatherland” [6, P. 2-4].

To fulfill the above tasks, various film-show programs were developed, including stories from everyday life of both Russian and foreign Army and Navy; films of historical, heroic, geographic, ethnographic, sports nature; episodes demonstrating various kinds of crafts, production, scientific experiments; and also, “to enable those in the Army and Navy to see, as often as possible, their own country leader, many of the programs included those films where His Imperial Majesty was in frame” [6, P. 2-4].

It is worth noting that A. Khanzhonkov used the innovative techniques to create an atmosphere during his movie-shows. For example, the show on November 24, 1912, in the hall of the First Cadet Corps, was conducted to the accompaniment of the Cadet Orchestra [6, P. 15]. On October 6 and 13, 1913, having obtained the permission of the Bishop of Narva, the film studio demonstrated “Drunkenness and its consequences” in St. Catherine wooden church. During the intermission the choir made from the church parish sang. An introductory speech on the harm of alcohol, as well as comments throughout the entire show, was pronounced by Dr. Verzhbitsky [6, P. 106].

Conclusion

Thus, performing educational, moral, cultural and recreational functions through the use of cinematography as a social and pedagogical tool, A. Khanzhonkov initiated media education in Russia as a whole, and in the system of naval education in particular. Practical achievements by A. Khanzhonkov on the use of cinema in the teaching and moral-educational process, were theoretically substantiated in the pedagogy of the 60-70s of 20^th century in the works by O. Baranov, I. Levshin, O. Nechay, S. Penzin, A. Sharikov, I. Vaysfeld, etc. [3] These works, in their turn, were developed within the modern world educational trend – the theory of media education, represented in Russian pedagogical science by such names as E. Ivanov [2], V. Maslennikova [3], E. Zhmyrova [1] and others.

Список литературы / References

1. Жмырова, Е. Ю. Киноискусство как средство воспитания толерантности у учащейся молодежи [Текст] : дис. … канд. пед. наук : 13.00.02 / Жмырова Екатерина Юрьевна. – Тамбов, 2008. – 210 с. – Библиогр.: С. 181–202.
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9. Федоров, А. В. Словарь терминов по медиаобразованию, медиапедагогике, медиаграмотности, медиакомпетентности [Текст] : справочник / А. В. Федоров. - Таганрог: Изд-во Таганрогского гос. пед. ин-та, 2010. – 64 c.
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Список литературы на английском языке / References in English

1. Zhmyrova, E. Ju. Kinoiskusstvo kak sredstvo vospitanija tolerantnosti u uchashhejsja molodezhi [Cinematography as a means of tolerance education among students] [Text] : dis. … of PhD in Pedagogy : 13.00.02 / Zhmyrova Ekaterina Jur'evna. – Tambov, 2008. – 210 p. – Bibliogr.: P. 181–202. [in Russian]
2. Ivanov, E. N. Voenno-patrioticheskoe vospitanie kursantov voennyh vuzov posredstvom kino [Military-patriotic education of military high school cadets through cinema] [Text] : dis. … of PhD in Pedagogy : 13.00.08 / Ivanov Evgenij Nikolaevich. – Magnitogorsk, 2008. – 207 p. – Bibliogr.: P. 178–198. [in Russian]
3. Maslennikova, V. Sh. Kino kak jeffektivnoe sredstvo vospitanija tolerantnosti u uchashhejsja molodezhi [Cinema as an effective means of educating tolerance among students] [Text] / V. Maslennikova // Social'no-jekonomicheskie i tehnicheskie sistemy: issledovanie, proektirovanie, optimizacija [Socio-economic and technical systems: research, design, optimization]. – 2016. – № 6(73)’2016. – P. 66-74. [in Russian]
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