Household practices of a post-war Soviet city in the memory of the residents of the city of Salavat as an example of “sovnostalgia”

Abstract

The proposed work touches upon important aspects of women’s social historical memory, which, using the example of everyday aspects (in particular, those related to childbearing practices) of life in a Soviet city, becomes part of nostalgia for the Soviet past. The study was carried out on the materials of oral history, the history of everyday life, the ethno-gender approach and the theory of historical memory. It can be noted that the construction of maternity hospitals in cities, the creation of a system of medical care at enterprises and at women’s consultations in the USSR at that time made it possible to abandon many outdated traditions inherent in young families, but in general, the system of traditional ethno-gender views continued to be present. in the life of citizens during that period, including in the behavior associated with the birth of a child. However, the symbolism associated with the attributes of the birth of children in the 1950s–60s. (maternity hospital, solemn meeting of the spouse with the child, etc.) can already be considered as part of the nostalgia for the Soviet past. The factors shaping such nostalgia were: the transition from rustic birth traditions to urban practices; to the accelerated decision to have a child in young families in order to get the unscheduled housing (a room in a communal (shared) apartment or a separate apartment).