Abstract

Using S. Buyannemeh's 1936 novella ‘Tovuudai the Herder’ (Malchin Tovuudai) as a basis, this chapter examines the social policies that the Party implemented so as to bring Mongolia into line with the Soviet Union. Through an analysis of the literary response to the unsuccessful policy of collectivization and to the more successful policies surrounding education and livestock husbandry, it shows how changes to the traditional nomadic herding culture – not only in the management of livestock, but in education and gender equality – affected society as a whole. In journeys such as Tovuudai’s, from the far west of Mongolia to the rapidly developing capital Ulaanbaatar, the kind of technological innovations that the Party wished to encourage – motorized transport and electrification – were seen as evidence of Mongolia's modernization, and writers used the imagery and sensation of speed and technology to remind readers of their improving circumstances.

Keywords: educational policy, collectivization, veterinary medicine, co-operative living, infrastructural development, transport, repression, Young Pioneers, Damdinsüren's ‘The Rejected Girl’ (Gologdson hüühen)