The worlds of Russian village women : tradition, transgression, compromise

384 Pages·2012·1.99 MB·English

by  Laura J. Olson, Svetlana Adonyeva

The Worlds of Russian Village Women

The Worlds of Russian
Village Women
Tradition, Transgression, Compromise
Laura J. Olson and Svetlana Adonyeva
the university of wisconsin press
Publication of this volume has been made possible, in part, through support from
the Eugene M. Kayden Endowment at the University of Colorado.
The University of Wisconsin Press
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Copyright © 2012
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic,
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the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olson, Laura J., 1962–
The worlds of Russian village women : tradition, transgression, compromise /
Laura J. Olson and Svetlana Adonyeva.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN978-0-299-29034-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN978-0-299-29033-7 (e-book)
1. Rural women—Russia—Social conditions. 2. Folklore—Russia. I. Adon’eva,S. B.
II. Title.
HQ1662.O47 2012
305.40947—dc23
2012016670
An earlier version of chapter 8 was first published as Svetlana Adonyeva and
Laura J. Olson, “Interpreting the Past, Postulating the Future: Memorate as Plot
and Script among Rural Russian Women,” Journal of Folklore Research48, no. 2
(2011): 133–66 (copyright © 2011, Indiana University Press, reprinted by
permission of the publisher).
Contents
List of Illustrations / vii
Acknowledgments / ix
Note on Transliteration and Translation / xiii
Introduction: Tradition, Transgression, Compromise / 3
 Traditions of Patriarchy and the Missing Female Voice in Russian Folklore
Scholarship / 23
 Age and Gender Status and Identity: Structure and History / 44
 Subjectivity and the Relational Self in Russian Village Women’s Stories of
Courtship and Marriage / 92
 The Pleasure, Power, and Nostalgia of Melodrama: Twentieth-Century
Singing Traditions and Women’s Identity Construction / 130
 Transgression as Communicative Act: Rural Women’s Chastushki / 166
 Magical Forces and the Symbolic Resources of Motherhood / 195
 Magic, Control, and Social Roles / 221
 Constructing Identity in Stories of the Other World / 255
 Death, the Dead, and Memory-Keepers / 277
Conclusion / 306
Glossary / 317
Notes / 321
References / 333
Index / 353

Illustrations
First, second, and third generations / 78
Second generation / 82
“Baba Nastia,” Anastasia Spirina / 85
Third generation / 86
Evdokia Timofeevna Kh. and her husband / 124
Holiday on a village hilltop / 136
Chorus performs khorovodfor visiting ethnographers / 138
Celebration of Petrov den’ (St. Peter’s Day) / 169
Woman cleans the grave of her mother / 284
Reading prayers for a one-year memorial / 286
A religious book used in services in homes / 295
A Christ’s coffin used in Easter services / 296

Acknowledgments
laura olson
This project could not have been completed without the financial assistance of several
organizations. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded me a Collab -
orative Research Grant, administered through American Councils for International Educa -
tion, which enabled me to travel and collaborate with many institutions and individuals
in Russia in 2004–5, the main period of research for this book. From the International
Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) I received an IARО Fellowship, which facilitated a
four-month research trip to Russia in 2004. The Kennan Institute awarded me a Short Term
Grant for research in Washington, DC, in 2003; Margaret Paxson of that institute gave
me Svetlana Adonyeva’s name and contact information, greatly influencing the outcome
of this project. The European Reading Room staff at the Library of Congress was end-
lessly supportive and resourceful. University of Colorado–Boulder provided many types
of assistance, including a research sabbatical, a grant-in-aid for equipment purchase, and two
travel grants for Svetlana Adonyeva to come to Boulder for collaborative work. The book’s
publication was facilitated by a generous subvention from the Eugene M. Kayden Fund.
I feel a profound sense of gratitude to all the people in Russian villages who invited me
into their homes for conversation, tea and treats, and allowed me to learn more about their
lives. I wish to particularly thank the following individuals who, in addition to the above,
gave me the gift of friendship. In Riazan’ oblast: Zinaida Nikolaevna Gubareva, Valentina
Aleksandrovna Chikunova, Valentina Ivanovna Aleshina, Aleksandra Matveevna Tarasova,
Anastasiia Andreevna Spirina, Father Roman Ivanovich Filippov and Tamara Filippova; in
Vologda oblast: Nina Aleksandrovna Kukina, Anemaiza Ivanovna Khlebosolova, Zoya
Mikhailovna Khlebosolova, Angelina Dmitrievna Stulkova, Faina Vasilevna Kostriukova,
Iia Vasilevna Gudkova, Tamara Vasilevna Cherepanova, Liubov Iakovlevna Pantina; in
Ul’ianovsk oblast: Maria Pavlovna and Iurii Mikhailovich Postnov, Maria Ivanovna Cher -
viakova, Maria Dmitrievna Zaplatkina. The Golubev family, including Mikhail Ivanovich,
ix