Information about the author:

Abstract:

The article discusses the perspectives of M. Prishvin and J. Korczak on childhood. According to both writers, childhood is a unique internal state that does not disappear with age. Despite their different life circumstances, with Prishvin facing difficulties and Korczak facing tragedy, they share a similar approach to childhood. They both view childhood as an existential category that is inseparable from religious consciousness. As religious individuals themselves, with Prishvin coming from a family of Old Believers and Korczak being Jewish, the question of God was natural for them and integral to their ethical beliefs. They believed that childhood represents the original purity of human nature and that adults should treat children as they would themselves. This approach was a connecting thread between their essence and faith, which they expressed in their existential- religious justification of childhood. Interestingly, they wrote not for children but about children.