1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910823905203321

Autore

Golubev Alexey

Titolo

The things of life : materiality in late Soviet Russia / / Alexey Golubev

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca : , : Cornell University Press, , 2021

ISBN

1-5017-5288-X

9781501752889

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xv, 220 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Cornell scholarship online

Disciplina

947.085

Soggetti

Material culture - Soviet Union

Space - Social aspects - Soviet Union

Soviet Union Social life and customs

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Previously issued in print: 2020.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction. Elemental Materialism in Soviet Culture and Society -- Techno-Utopian Visions of Soviet Intellectuals after Stalin -- Time in 1:72 Scale: The Plastic Historicity of Soviet Models -- History in Wood: The Search for Historical Authenticity in North Russia -- When Spaces of Transit Fail Their Designers: Social Antagonisms of Soviet Stairwells and Streets -- The Men of Steel: Repairing and Empowering Soviet Bodies with Iron -- Ordinary and Paranormal: The Soviet Television Set.

Sommario/riassunto

This text is a social and cultural history of material objects and spaces during the late socialist era. It traces the biographies of Soviet things, examining how the material world of the late Soviet period influenced Soviet people's gender roles, habitual choices, social trajectories, and imaginary aspirations. Instead of seeing political structures and discursive frameworks as the only mechanisms for shaping Soviet citizens, the book explores how Soviet people used objects and spaces to substantiate their individual and collective selves. In doing so, the author rediscovers what helped Soviet citizens make sense of their selves and the world around them, ranging from space rockets and model aircraft to heritage buildings, and from home gyms to the hallways and basements of post-Stalinist housing.