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{
    "localId": "470154901",
    "label": "Central Intelligence Agency, Scientific Intelligence Report, CIA/SI 111-50, Implications of the Marr Linguistics Controversy for Soviet Science",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Central Intelligence Agency, Scientific Intelligence Report, CIA/SI 111-50, Implications of the Marr Linguistics Controversy for Soviet Science",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/470154901",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Intelligence Files"
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    "productionDates": [
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            "logicalDate": "1950-12-15",
            "month": 12,
            "year": 1950
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    "seq": 5,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602196/875436/875436-02-005.tif",
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    "ocrText": "No Objection To Declassification 2007/11/23 : NLT-PSF-51-6-3-8\n25X1\nIMPLICATIONS OF THE MARR LINGUISTICS CONTROVERSY\nFOR SOVIET SCIENCE\nSUMMARY\nDuring the past year a great deal of space has been given by\nthe Soviet press to a discussion of philological theories. In this dis-\ncussion it was revealed that Soviet linguistics had been brought to\nan impasse by the rule of \"a closed clique of infallible leaders\"\nwhich tried to impose its own impractical scientific dogma and to\nsuppress criticism. The \"closed clique\" consisted of the followers\nof N. Ya. Marr, whose theories had for many years dominated Soviet\nphilology, presumably under Party sanction. The rule of this clique\nwas broken by the intervention of Stalin and the Central Committee\nof the Communist Party, who supported the anti-Marr philologists,\nwhen it became apparent that philologists had failed to solve certain\npractical linguistics problems important to Soviet power. Although\nthe stated intention of Party leaders was to dislodge cliques and\ndogmas, the reaction on the part of the philologists appears to have\nbeen to replace Marr's theories with another dogma based on Stalin's\nnew pronouncements and to replace Marr's followers with a new\nclique.\nThe extensive publicity given this discussion was apparently\ndirected in part at Soviet scientists in other fields, implying that\nlessons applicable to other sciences were to be derived from the\nMarr controversy. If this implication is correct, Soviet leaders\nappear to be concerned about the prevalence of cliques and dogmas\nsimilar to those in linguistics in other Soviet sciences, including\ncertain branches of chemistry, physics, and biology. It appears,\nhowever, that Soviet leaders have thus far been unable to correct\nthese tendencies.\nHARRY TRUMAN NARA\n25X1\nNo Objection To Declassification 2007/11/23 NLT-PSF-51-6-3-8"
}