Sovok (Russian: совок) is a Russian slang and pejorative term used to describe the Soviet Union, the mindset and lifestyle of Soviet people, and the perceived remnants of Soviet culture and psychology in post-Soviet states.[1]
The term initially emerged within late-Soviet counterculture and diaspora circles.[1] Although it first represented a critique of state-sponsored economic dysfunction, it later became a broader sociological or psychological diagnosis. It has come to denote an individual or mentality characterized by state dependency, social apathy, resistance to change, and compliance with authoritarian structures.[1] It is related to the concept Homo Sovieticus, although sovok gained greater popularity within the Soviet population.[1][2]
Etymology
editSeveral people claim the authorship of the term,[3] but it likely emerged across multiple subcultures before coming into mainstream use.[1]
"Sovok" is derived from the word "Soviet".[4] A common meaning of the word "sovok" is 'dustpan' in Russian.[1] Linguist Lyudmila Kasyanova writes that the use of "sovok" as a pejorative term applies the negative associations with trash.[5] Mikhail Epstein notes that the suffix "-ok" may convey a dismissive tone in Russian.[4]
There are a number of derived words: adjective: "sovkovy" (совковый), "pertaining to 'sovok'"; noun: совковость ('sovkovost', "sovokness") the totality of the traits of a sovok, and the adverb in Russian: совково, romanized: sovkovo, lit. 'in a sovok way'.[6]
Meanings
editSoviet Union
editIn its generic meaning the term implies something dysfunctional, commenting on why things are run poorly or why a person behaves badly. Borenstein writes: "When the Soviet Union is called 'sovok', everyone knows what this means: economic deprivation, administrative incompetence, defective consumer technology, an intrusive public culture, bombastic rhetoric that is easily ignored, and widespread hypocrisy."[7]
Soviet people
editBorenstein concisely defines a "sovok" person as "Soviet yokel"[8] and the first two chapters of his book Soviet Self-Hatred are devoted to the analysis of this category of people.[1]
Alexander Genis describes the sovok as characterized in post-Soviet journalism as possessing "a violent thirst for equality, a deaf hatred for anyone else's success, and an indolence that blazes energy".[9]
Modern Russia
editMany people think that in modern Russia, despite its transition away from Communism, the negative sovok traits are preserved.[10][11]
The Levada Center's polling notes that the term remains relevant in issues involving western-oriented reforms and conservative positions. [12]
In popular culture
editIn 1988, Igor Talkov composed the nationalist anthem "Sovki" to criticize those that supported the maintenance of the failing state.[1]
The term affected foreign perception of Soviets through portrayals such as in Yuri Mamin's comedy drama film Window to Paris (1993), which depicted post-Soviet tourists as embodying coarse stereotypes with materialistic goals antithetical to western values.[1]
At the end of the 20th century, Victor Pelevin, a postmodern writer, provides[where?] a sympathetic portrayal of this archetype as a member of the post-Soviet intelligentsia that protested against the universalizing of western values, particularly materialism.[1]
See also
edit
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Eliot Borenstein (2023). Soviet Self-Hatred: The Secret Identities of Postsocialism in Contemporary Russia. Cornell University Press. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctv2t8b73r
- ↑ Gogin, Sergei (8 March 2012). "Homo Sovieticus: 20 years After the End of the soviet Union" (PDF). RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST (109): 12–15.
- ↑ Михаил Эпштейн, К ИСТОРИИ И ЗНАЧЕНИЮ СЛОВА "СОВОК"
- 1 2 Epstein, Mikhail. "Совки и другие. К истории и значению слова «совок» Михаил Эпштейн Лаборатория слова Топос - литературно-философский журнал". www.topos.ru.
- ↑ Касьянова, Людмила Юрьевна (2008). "Оценочная семантика нового слова". Вестник Челябинского государственного университета (in Russian). 9: 45–51.
- ↑ Толковый словарь языка Совдепии.- СПб.: Фолио-Пресс. Мокиенко В.М., Никитина Т.Г.. 1998.
- ↑ Eliot Borenstein, A Sovok is a Person, Place, or Thing (Russia's Alien Nations)
- ↑ Eliot Borenstein, Soviet Self-Hatred, book summary
- ↑ Alexander Genis (1994). "Sovok". Russian Studies in Literature. 31 (1): 5–11.
- ↑ Совок-2012. Что такое «совок» и кто такие «совки» в нашей нынешней жизни? COLTA.RU отвечают поэты, писатели, художники, режиссер и музыкант, October 15, 2012
- ↑ «Совок»: живее всех живых?, editorial, Levada Center, September 11, 2012
- ↑ «Совок»: живее всех живых?, editorial, Levada Center, September 11, 2012