Article
Article name A Soviet Schoolbook as a Nostalgia Object in Contemporary Russian Culture
Authors Dorogavtseva I.S. Candidate of Cultural Studies, irinadorogawzewa@mail.ru
Bibliographic description Dorogavtseva I. S. A Soviet Schoolbook as a Nostalgia Object in Contemporary Russian Culture // Scholarly Notes of Transbaikal State University. 2024. Vol. 19, no. 1. P. 80–90. DOI: 10.21209/2658-7114- 2024-19-1-80-90.
Section INTEGRATION OF EDUCATION AND UPBRINGING
UDK 37:008
DOI 10.21209/2658-7114-2024-19-1-80-90
Article type Original article
Annotation The article presents an attempt to analyze nostalgic attitudes in contemporary Russian culture. In the treatment of the term, the author draws on S. Boym’s classification that distinguishes between reflective and restorative nostalgia, as well as on R. Abramov’s works where nostalgia is seen as the reaction on modernization processes. The object under research is a Soviet schoolbook that has recently become popular as a teaching aid in private schools and in widespread homeschooling. The study of positive feedback on Soviet schoolbooks in virtual communities and blogs (“Yandex Zen”, “VK”) allows to highlight the most often named reasons for preferring them to modern ones. Primarily, these are traditional design, strict and explicit rules, limiting the amount of information studied, saving time and learning resources. Summarizing of the data obtained makes it possible to reveal the tendency towards the idealization of the Soviet education system, especially of the period of the 1930s – 1950s, as well as the tendency toward simplification and deceleration of educational process. The influence of post-totalitarian mindset, preserved in modern Russian culture, may be regarded as one of the roots of the negative attitude towards changes in society and, accordingly, in the field of school education. As a result, anti-progressive restorative nostalgia may prevail over reflective one that aims at rethinking the past and integrating it into the present. The article may be of interest to specialists in the field of education, as well as to those who study current trends in modern Russian culture.
Key words nostalgia, contemporary Russian culture, post-totalitarian society, Soviet schoolbook, homeschooling,school education
Article information
References 1. Yashina, M. N. Family education on the Internet. Sociology of education, no. 2, pp. 63–73, 2017. (In Rus.) 2. Nugumanova, L. N., Yakovenko, T. V., Davletshina, L. A. Homeschool parents and the school education system: points of interaction. Science and school, no. 6, pp. 120–133, 2022. (In Rus.) 3. Popova, T. V., Sukhorukova, O. A. Soviet education: tradition and modernity. Bulletin of MSPU. Series: Philosophical Sciences, no. 3, pp. 68–85, 2021. (In Rus.) 4. Bezrogov, V. G. Dialogues about a school textbook. Science time, no. 2, pp. 5–68, 2020. (In Rus.) 5. Textbook as a model of the world and society: Collective monograph. SPb: Politekhnika Servis, 2021. (In Rus.) 6. Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Arndt, J., Routledge, C. Nostalgia: Past, Present, and Future. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, October 2008. Web. 10.09.2023. URL: https://www.researchgate. net/publication/313213209_Nostalgia_past_pr esent_and_future (In Engl.) 7. Boym, S. The future of nostalgia. М: NLO, 2019. (In Rus.) 8. FioRito, T. A., Routledge, C. Is Nostalgia a Past or Future-Oriented Experience? Affective, Behavioral, Social Cognitive, and Neuroscientific Evidence. Frontiers in Psychology, pp. 15–17, September 2020. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01133 (In Engl.) 9. Abramov, R. N. Time and space of nostalgia. Sociological Journal, no. 4, pp. 5–23, 2012. (In Rus.) 10. Batcho, K. I. When Nostalgia Tilts to Sad: Anticipatory and Personal Nostalgia. Frontiers in Psychology, pp. 7–14, September 2020. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01186 (In Engl.) 11. Juhl, J., Biskas, M. Nostalgia: an impactful social emotion. Current Opinion in Psychology, vol. 49. 2023. Web. 15.09.2023: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22002664 (In Engl.) https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101545. 12. Earl, A., Hall, C. M. Nostalgia and Tourism. Journal of Heritage Tourism, no. 3, pp. 307–317, 2023. DOI: 10.1080/1743873X.2023.2192875 (In Engl.) 13. Li, Y. Nostalgia Promoting Pro-Social Behavior and Its Psychological Mechanism. Open Journal of Social Sciences, no. 3, pp. 177–186, 2015. DOI: 10.4236/jss.2015.310024. (In Engl.) 14. Abakoumkin, G., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C. Nostalgia Proneness and the Collective Self. Frontiers in Psychology, pp. 67–75, September 2020. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.570621 (In Engl.) 15. Natali, M. P. History and the Politics of Nostalgia. Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, no. 5, pp. 10–25, 2004. (In Engl.) 16. Trubitsyn, D. Ontological status of culture and its role in modernization process. Russian Journal of Philosophical Sciences, no. 11, pp. 36–52, 2010. (In Rus.) 17. Chase, M., Shaw, C. The Imaggined Past: History and Nostalgia / Ed. by Chase M., Shaw C. Manchester, 1989. (In Engl.) 18. Routledge, C. Nostalgia: A psychological resource. NY, London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2016. (In Engl.) 19. Abramov, R. N. Museumification of the Soviet. Historical trauma or nostalgia? Human, no. 5, pp. 99– 111, 2013. (In Rus.) 20. Abramov, R. N. “Folk historicization” of the late Soviet era on the example of analysis of nostalgic Internet communities. In: The paths of Russia. Historicization of social experience. Pugachyova M. G., Zharkov V. P. (eds.), 2013: 236–255. (In Rus.) 21. Boym, S. The end of nostalgia? Art and cultural memory at the end of the century: The case of Ilya Kabakov. New Literary Observer, no. 39, pp. 90–100, 1999. (In Rus.) 22. Shor-Chudnovskaya, A. Understanding the post-Soviet person. Neprikosnovennyi zapas, no. 6, pp. 155–167, 2009. (In Rus.) 23. Gudkov, L. D. Reverse totalitarianism. M: NLO, 2022. T. 1. (In Rus.) 24. Zubkova, E. Yu. Soviet life as a subject of historical reconstruction. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences, no. 9, pp. 882–890, 2020. (In Rus.) 25. Abramov, R. N. “Soviet attic” of the Russian blogosphere: analysis of nostalgic virtual communities. INTER, no. 6, pp. 88–102, 2011. (In Rus.) 26. Gudkov, L. D. Reverse totalitarianism. M: NLO, 2022. Vol. 2. (In Rus.)
Full articleA Soviet Schoolbook as a Nostalgia Object in Contemporary Russian Culture