Marxism and Problems of Linguistics - From Marx to Mao

elements of the new quality, and hence by the gradual dyingaway of the elements of the old quality.It should be said in general for the benefit of comradeswho have an infatuation for explosions that the law of transitionfrom an old quality to a new by means of an explosionis inapplicable not only to the history of the development oflanguages; it is not always applicable to other social phenomenaof a basis or superstructural character. It applies ofnecessity to a society divided into hostile classes. But itdoes not necessarily apply to a society which has no hostileclasses. In a period of eight to ten years we effected a transitionin the agriculture of our country from the bourgeois,individual-peasant system to the socialist, collective-farmsystem. This was a revolution which eliminated the oldbourgeois economic system in the countryside and created anew, socialist system. But that revolution did not take placeby means of an explosion, that is, by the overthrow of theexisting government power and the creation of a new power,but by a gradual transition from the old bourgeois system inthe countryside to a new system. And it was possible to dothat because it was a revolution from above, because therevolution was accomplished on the initiative of the existingpower with the support of the bulk of the peasantry.It is said that the numerous instances of linguistic crossingin past history furnish reason to believe that when languagescross a new language is formed by means of an explosion, bya sudden transition from an old quality to a new. This isquite wrong.Linguistic crossing cannot be regarded as the single impactof a decisive blow which produces its results within a fewyears. Linguistic crossing is a prolonged process which con-27