Editors
Dmitri N. Shalin
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
First page number:
1
Last page number:
30
Abstract
Mikhail Mishin, a Soviet satirist, wrote that Russians recognize themselves in the famous fairy-tale character Ivan the Fool. He bides his time napping on the heated furnace and gets up only to undertake major heroic feats. Ivan the Fool might be a great hero, but he has no idea how to survive his everyday life. Everyday life, captured in the Russian word byt, is a more dangerous enemy to him than the multi-headed fire-spitting dragon. The everyday is Russia 's cultural monster. The nation might worship its heroes and their fabled ability to withstand hell or high water, but it also celebrates their impracticality and helplessness in the face of everyday life.
Keywords
Culture; Heroes; Life skills; National characteristics; Russia; Soviet Union; Tales
Disciplines
Asian History | Cultural History | European History | Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures | Slavic Languages and Societies | Social History
Language
English
Repository Citation
Boym, S.
(2012).
Soviet Everyday Culture: An Oxymoron?. In Dmitri N. Shalin,
1-30.
Available at:
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/russian_culture/8
Included in
Asian History Commons, Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Slavic Languages and Societies Commons, Social History Commons