European University Institute Library

Summerfolk, a history of the dacha, 1710-2000, Stephen Lovell

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-254) and index

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Summerfolk

bibliography

50291082

Stephen Lovell

"A fascinating work rich in detail, Summerfolk explores the ways in which Russia's turbulent past has shaped the function of the dacha and attitudes toward it. The book also demonstrates the crucial role that the dacha has played in the development of Russia's two most important cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, by providing residents with a refuge from the squalid and crowded metropolis. Like the suburbs in other nations, the dacha form of settlement served to alleviate social anxieties about urban growth."--, Provided by publisher

a history of the dacha, 1710-2000

"Lovell shows that the dacha is defined less by its physical location - usually one or two hours' distance from a large city yet apart from the rural hinterland - than by the routines, values, and ideologies of its inhabitants. Drawing on sources as diverse as architectural pattern books, memoirs, paintings, fiction, and newspapers, he examines how dachniki ("summerfolk") have freed themselves from the workplace, cultivated domestic space, and created informal yet intense intellectual communities. He also reflects on the disdain that many Russians have felt toward the dacha, and their association of its lifestyle with physical idleness, private property, and unproductive use of the land."--, Provided by publisher"Russian attitudes toward the dacha are, Lowell asserts, constantly evolving. The word "dacha" has evoked both delight in and hostility to leisure. It has implied both the rejection of agricultural labor and, more recently, a return to the soil. In Summerfolk, the dacha is a unique vantage point from which to observe the Russian social landscape and Russian life in the private sphere."--, Provided by publisher

Prehistory -- Between city and court -- The late imperial dacha boom -- Between Arcadia and suburbia -- The making of the Soviet dacha, 1917-1941 -- Between consumption and ownership -- Post-Soviet suburbanization?