Fäder i Sovjetryssland: Ideal, känslor och praktik

Abstract

What makes a good father? Ideals and practices in late socialist RussiaThis article investigates fatherhood ideals and practices in late Soviet Russia, 1960Russia, -1989 For the theoretical basis, dominant ideals on masculinity and fatherhood have been derived from the rich but predominantly Western research literature of the past three decades. These are used as guiding tools in examining the research material for this study: the monthly magazine Semia i shkola. Zhurnal dlia roditelei (Family and School; Journal for Parents) and eleven in-depth interviews with men in Russia on their memories of fatherhood in the 1960s-1980s.The research questions are: What did the ideal image of fatherhood look like in this period? What remembered practices do respondents communicate in interviews, and how do these relate to dominant public/official ideals of the time? Are there differences in the emphasis on various aspects of fatherhood ideals/practices between public discourses and the accounts given by these men? The interview narratives yield a multifaceted picture, with both coinciding and contradictory representations of the respondents' ideal images, on the one hand, and remembered practices, on the other. Possible explanations are then discussed. In conclusion, Soviet Russian fatherhood is tentatively contextualized within the framework of research results on Western fatherhood.Keywords: Soviet Russia, men's life-stories, changing family models, fatherhood discourse & practice, ideal images, gender roles Ett gott faderskap? Ideal och praktik i det sensocialistiska RysslandSyftet med min studie är att lyfta fram offentliga/officiella idealbilder av faderskap under de sensocialistiska decennierna av den sovjetryska perioden. Hur såg idealbilden av det sovjetryska faderskapet ut under 1960-80-talet? I en publikation av karaktären rådgivningsmaterial för föräldrar fann jag bilder av »en närvarande och engagerad fader», »en vägledare och förebild», »en man med kontroll över sina känslor» och »fadern som familjeöverhuvud». Jag ställer också frågan om hur den ihågkomna praktiken av faderskap ser ut för ryska män som jag intervjuat, och hur de förhöll sig till de då rådande idealen? Kan vi se skillnader i betoning mellan officiella diskurser

Homotolerant versus Homophobic? Swedish Sexual Exceptionalism and the Russian Other

“…The Bolshevist ideology, with its violence, dictatorship, civil war, and misery, became a point of comparison for visions of Sweden with its peaceful social-democratic practices, democratic struggle, and success (Blomqvist, 2002b, p. 33). Nevertheless, certain developments, such as gender equality in the interwar Soviet Union, were considered examples for the Swedish labor movement to follow (Carlbäck, 2002).…”