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
DOI 10.21209/2658-7114-2024-19-1-80-90
UDK 37:008
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
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