Nikolaeva A. A. “Village Languishing in Ignorance...”: Woman’s fate in the lyrics of S. A. Esenin during the World War I // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №2. P. 79-88.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-2-79-88

Annotation

As its witness and participant, S. A. Esenin responded to the World War I with works written in 1914–1915. As the “singer of the village”, the poet sincerely worried about peasants who were close to him and went to the front. Most of Esenin’s works about the World War I reflect the village life and changes in the usual peasant way of life, especially the unfortunate fate of the peasant woman, to whom the poems “The Patterns” () and “The Mother’s Prayer” () are dedicated. Esenin shows the bride’s grief and tells the story of the lonely mother commemorating her breadwinner son. Other works inspired by war events also present female images: in the little poem “Rus” (1914), Esenin describes militia, departure of men, women waiting for and receiving news from the front and faith in victory as moments in the life of peasant women inseparable from village realities. When repeatedly describing the sendoff of men from villages, Esenin not only emphasizes the crying of women anticipating troubles but also mentions outdoor festivities of recruits with playful girls, referring to his personal experience (“Through the Village by the Crooked Path...”, 1914). However, the main result of war for the poet is the death of soldiers; therefore, the images of peasant women in his works of the World War I are associated mainly with tears, suffering and commemoration.

Keywords

S. A. Esenin, World War I, village, motives, “Rus”, “The Mother’s Prayer”, “The Patterns”, “Through the Village by the Curved Road...”.

About the author

Alla A. Nikolaeva, PhD (Philology), Senior Researcher, Scientific Seсretary of the Esenin Group, А. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Povarskaya St., 25а, bldg. 1, Moscow, 121069, Russia.
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The article was submitted on 19.02.2024.

Baskin L. M., Pokrovsky N. E., Nikolaeva U. G. Sociology on foot and from quadcopter. Rural households and village life in the Near North of Russia (on the example of the Kostroma Region) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2022. V.7. №4. P. 72-108.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2022-7-4-72-108

Annotation

Rural settlements in the Russian Near North face multidirectional effects, being at the crossroads of natural and environmental zones, economic and household patterns, and modernization challenges. In the market conditions, the relatively low fertility of non-black-earth soils and harsh winters make agricultural production marginally competitive. The steady centripetal migration of rural residents to cities, population outflow, relatively low life expectancy of the working-age population, accelerated demographic aging and, thus, the centrifugal influx of dacha residents from big cities and gradual transformation of lifestyle — these are the main thematic nodes of the study. The authors analyze macro- and micro-trends in rural life through the settlement patterns, material culture, living conditions and economic practices based on the study of the out-of-town settlement locus along the Unzha River between Manturovo and Makariev (Kostroma Region). The traditional methods — observation, survey and analysis of statistical data — were supplemented by the quadcopter footage of the villages. The authors paid special attention to the architectural and planning typology of houses and to the functional structure of rural estates, which objectively reflect the history of villages and rural lifestyle and the contemporary social-cultural evolution of ‘small territories’ under the social transformation of the Near North.

Keywords

Russian Near North, Kostroma Region, rural settlements, depopulation, deurbanization, rural lifestyle, household practices, rural households, architecture of rural households, quadcopter survey.

About the authors

Baskin Leonid M., DSc (Biology), Leading Researcher, Severtsov Insitute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences. Leninsky Prosp., 33, Moscow, 119071, Russia.
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Pokrovsky Nikita E., DSc (Sociology), Professor, Chair of General Sociology, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Leading Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Myasnitskaya St., 20, Moscow, 101100, Russia.
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Nikolaeva Uliana G., DSc (Economics), Leading Researcher, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Institute of Sociology, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Myasnitskaya St., 20, Moscow, 101100, Russia.
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