The transformation of Russian female peasants` views on marriage in the late 19th century through the 1930s in the context of folk chastushkas

Author(s):  S.P. Shapovalova, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia, Shapovalova_S@bsu.edu.ru

I.V. Istomina, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia, Istomina_IV@bsu.edu.ru

Issue:  Volume 45, №2

Rubric:  Topical issues of russian history

Annotation:  Folk chastushkas have rarely been used as a historical source; in the cases when they were part of the source base, chastushkas were drawn fragmentarily – basically to illustrate a particular aspect. The short form of this folk genre with a historical slant is not of much interest to historians. Meanwhile, when one looks at chastushkas through the lens of the socio-psychological approach, their analysis allows to con-firm or refute conventional historical conceptions. The study of marriage in the Russian village in the late nineteenth century through the 1930s is a good example of this. Chastushkas, in their essence, help to at-tract attention to the evolution of mentality, highlighting the peculiarity of a particular historical epoch. In particular, they reflect the whole structure of premarital and marital relations in the Russian village: the motivation of marriage, the social ideal of the groom, the vision of her (female) place in the family, the reasons for rejection of marriage, consent to marry unloved, family and collective life, etc. The concise-ness, irony and social focus make chastushkas per se imprints of peasants` views of various aspects of the rural life specific to a certain time. In the first years of the Soviet era, chastushkas as a social phenomenon were highly politicized, they reflect the moods of various strata in the Russian village. The above mentioned make chastushkas a valuable source in the analysis of social psychology of the Russian peasantry. At the same time, the psychological moments of the evolutionary nature of transitional epoch which are very rare in other sources are set off.

Keywords:  folklore, chastushka, Russian village, peasantry, Bolsheviks, social psychology

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