Soviet Nostalgia is a phenomenon common among residents of the post-Soviet space. It can be expressed both in sympathy for the political system and only in nostalgic memories of the Soviet aesthetics. Soviet nostalgia does not always arise in people who actually lived in the USSR and sympathize with Soviet regime. Including those may be people whose childhood was spent in the "wild 90s" in Russia, having had caught the atmosphere of the departing era.
One should not perceive Soviet nostalgia as an exclusively social phenomenon caused by an attempt to return the Soviet Union, in a general sense; this nostalgia regards people's memories of childhood in "Khrushchevkas", interiors, household items, clothes, works of art, etc. This aesthetic is a reinterpretation by the younger generation of the images of their childhood in the space of signs left over from Soviet times.
Visual[]
A lot of visuals in this aesthetic include:
- Interiors with Soviet furniture or stylized as such.
- Food from the traditional cuisine of the country of Soviet space.
- Carpets on the walls in the interior.
- Nature.
- Villages.
- Orthodox icons.
Fashion[]
- Kerchief; Slavic headdress, also known as "kosynka" (косынка)
- Fur coat
- Avoska (авоська); utility bag
- Sheepskin coats
Games[]
- Everlasting Summer
- IT'S WINTER
Subgenre[]
Part of the Soviet nostalgia can be considered the aesthetics of the dark Post-Soviet Nostalgia, which covers the period of the USSR collapse and is inspired by the aesthetics of the "wild 90s" in Russia. This aesthetic is closely related to the Soviet Brutalism including not only architecture, but also fashion, the mood, and post-processed photos, which are the main themes that are displayed in the art.
Visual[]
Dark post-Soviet nostalgia includes:
- Cold photo post-processing
- Old entrances
- Communal apartments in St. Petersburg
- Ruined monuments
- Panel houses
- Crime
Movie[]
- Brother (1997)
- Blind Man's Bluff (2005)
- Law of the Lawless (TV miniseries; 2002)
Criticism[]
In 2021, the trend “Makeup in the style of a bandit’s wife from the 90s” appeared on TikTok among the Russian-speaking community. Users have repeatedly criticized it for romanticizing crime.
Gallery[]
