Plebeian Modernity: Social Practices, Illegality, and the Urban Poor in Russia, 1906-1916

Author:   Ilya Gerasimov (Author)
Publisher:   Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Volume:   v. 19
ISBN:  

9781580469050


Pages:   288
Publication Date:   25 January 2018
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Plebeian Modernity: Social Practices, Illegality, and the Urban Poor in Russia, 1906-1916


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Overview

"Deciphers typical social practices as a hidden language of communication in urban plebeian society Covering the interrevolutionary decade of 1906-16 in imperial Russia, this book tells the story of the ""silent majority"" of urban inhabitants in four major cities: Vilna (today Vilnius, Lithuania), Odessa (in today's Ukraine), Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod. Representatives of underprivileged social groups made up some ninety percent of city populations during this period, yet produced hardly one percent of the surviving written sources. These people, many ofthem migrants from the countryside, usually did not read newspapers, rarely authored written documents, and had little exposure to public discourse. They often did not even speak a common language. Our understanding of this population has until recently been based largely on interpretations by educated observers (journalists, legal experts, scholars), whose testimonies reflected the cultural stereotypes of the time. This book bypasses such mediation, arguing that we can come to know the authentic voices of urban commoners by reading their social practices as a nonverbal language. Toward that end, author Ilya Gerasimov closely examines newspaper criminal chronicles, policereports, and anonymous extortion letters, reconstructing typical social practices among this segment of Russian society. The resulting picture represents the distinctive phenomenon of a ""plebeian modernity,"" one that helped shapethe outlook of early Soviet society. Ilya Gerasimov is a founding editor of Ab Imperio. He holds a PhD in Russian history from Rutgers University."

Full Product Details

Author:   Ilya Gerasimov (Author)
Publisher:   Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Imprint:   University of Rochester Press
Volume:   v. 19
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.001kg
ISBN:  

9781580469050


ISBN 10:   1580469051
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   25 January 2018
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

"Introduction: The Subalterns Speak Out; Gerasim and the Infamous Writing Degree Zero, and Beyond: Reading Social Practices between the Lines The Middle Volga City as the Middle Ground: Urban Plebeian Society The Patriarchal Metropolis: Trespassing Social Barriers in Late Imperial Vilna ""We Only Kill Each Other"": The Anthropology of Deadly Violence and Contested Intergroup Boundaries The Transformative Social Experience of Illegality Epilogue: Gerasim in Power; A Plebeian Modernity Notes Selected Bibliography Index"

Reviews

[T]his is a brilliant work. Its pages (and endnotes) brim with powerful insights and clever observations. SLAVIC REVIEW Plebeian Modernity is an energetic and thought-provoking book, with some important insights alongside some vivid and compelling anecdotes. EUROPEAN HISTORY QUARTERLY


Plebeian Modernity is an energetic and thought-provoking book, with some important insights alongside some vivid and compelling anecdotes. EUROPEAN HISTORY QUARTERLY


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