How to think, study, and interpret DIY-like discourses and practices in the Russian/post-Soviet context

Zinaida Vasilyeva (MCTS, Technical University of Munich)

16. 9. 2019 od 15.00

Zasedací místnost Etnologického ústavu AV ČR, Na Florenci 3, 5. patro

Many foreign observers, just like many Russians themselves, agree that Russians do share a particular material culture characterized by the widespread practices of making, remaking and repairing objects. Starting from this common-sense opinion, I continue disentangling the “Russian/Soviet DIY” as a stereotype and demonstrate how many diverse social forms and contradictory discourses inform this phenomenon from inside and outside the Russian society. My analysis is guided by two general research questions:

1) how the Soviet modern project made DIY material culture its inherent characteristic and what kind of subject emerged as a result of this project?

2) how the context of rapid and radical transformations influenced the way individuals remember and speak about DIY objects and practices in the post-Soviet context.

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