PUSHKAREVA N.L., ZHIDCHENKO A.V. Social-Cultural and Family-Life Space of Two Volga Cities in the 1950s – 1960s in Women’s Social Memory
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2025.1.10
Natalya L. Pushkareva,
Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor, Chief Researcher, Head of the Center for Gender Studies, N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prosp. Leninsky, 32a, 119334 Moscow, Russian Federation,
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6295-3331
Alexander V. Zhidchenko,
Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher, Center for Gender Studies, N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prosp. Leninsky, 32a, 119334 Moscow, Russian Federation,
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2948-4008
Abstract. Introduction. An appeal to the study of the everyday life of large and small Soviet cities in the years of the greatest hopes and convictions in the right direction of the socio-political development of the country (in the 1950s – 1960s) forces us to study the structure of thinking of compatriots with the help of ego-documents. Women’s memory is more selective in this regard; women remember the details of episodes better than men and describe them, declare their readiness to remember faster, date more accurately, and use more emotional terms. Methods and materials. These features prompted a longitudinal project aimed at studying women’s memory of the period of the political thaw and collecting unstructured biographical interviews in which the respondents themselves highlight the main points. Biographical narratives of the inhabitants of Zhigulevsk and Stavropol (Togliatti) are a collection of evidence of an objective given. Analysis. These subjective narratives of the actors of the social process make it possible to assert the veracity of what has been stated, if not from a historical, then from a personal perspective. Embedded in the historical context, they pave the way for understanding the details of social interactions, among which gender played a role. The socio-cultural history of the two cities is a women’s history of Soviet life with its disorder, anxiety about the family and children, and resentment that strength and time were killed in lines, but at the same time (due to its connection with youth) this story is surprisingly positive. Common difficulties rallied and united women, and the theme of mutual support overlaps the memories of residents of the two cities about annoyance and trouble. Results. Common difficulties rallied and united the women, and the theme of mutual support overshadowed the memories of residents of the two cities about annoyances and troubles. The exemplary life, glorified by state propaganda, was created precisely by the efforts of women. In building it, the women of the new Soviet cities overcame many difficulties, simultaneously appreciating both the romance of the surrounding urban space of the Volga and the architectural landscape of the new city. At the same time, the peculiarities of overcoming difficulties in the conditions of such a Soviet general historical context created frames of social optimism among women of that time. Authors’ contribution. N.L. Pushkareva proposed the idea and concept of the article and wrote the final text; A.V. Zhidchenko collected, systematized, and analyzed sources of personal origin during the field research. Funding. The study was carried out within the framework of the RSF project 24-18-00212 “Women’s family memory in Russia in the 18th – 21st centuries: forms of transmission, dynamics of transformations, social mission.”
Key words: women, women’s history, women’s social memory, ego-documents, oral history, anthropology of everyday life.
Citation. Pushkareva N.L., Zhidchenko A.V. Social-Cultural and Family-Life Space of Two Volga Cities in the 1950s – 1960s in Women’s Social Memory. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2025, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 114-126. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2025.1.10.
Social-Cultural and Family-Life Space of Two Volga Cities in the 1950s – 1960s in Women’s Social Memory by Pushkareva N.L., Zhidchenko A.V. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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