Village mothers : three generations of change in Russia and Tataria
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Village mothers : three generations of change in Russia and Tataria
（Indiana-Michigan series in Russian and East European studies）
Indiana University Press, 2000
- : cl : alk. paper
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Note
Bibliography: p. [299]-306
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
"Village Mothers" describes the reception of modern medical ideas and practices by three generations of Russian and Tatar village women in the twentieth century. It first traces the entry into Russia of Western medical discourse on reproduction and its extension to the countryside during the Soviet period. Using the village mothers' own words, as captured in 100 oral interviews collected by the author and his collaborators in the early 1990s, David L. Ransel traces the process by which the women mediated the inherited beliefs of their families and communities, the claims of the state to control reproduction, and their personal desire for a better life. The interviews tell a story of willing acceptance of some changes and selective acceptance of or outright resistance to others.
Although the lives of the women interviewed were propelled and battered by powerful forces beyond their control, ranging from patriarchal tyranny to civil war, governmental coercion and violence, famine, and world war, the women's testimonies reveal the strategies by which they maintained a measure of personal control and choice, building a sense of independence that helped them endure hardship and gave meaning to their lives. The scope of these personal histories and the detailed information they convey about everyday life in rural Soviet communities provides an important and fascinating portrait of socio-cultural continuity and transformation in twentieth-century Russia.
Table of Contents
Preliminary Table of Contents: 1. Child Welfare Before the Revolution 2. Soviet Efforts to Transform Village Mothering 3. Courtship and Marriage 4. Fertility Choices 5. Giving Birth 6. Baptism and Equivalent Muslim Rites 7. Coping with Infant Death 8. Child Care 9. Conclusion: Life and Loyalty in Hard Times Appendix A: List of Informants Appendix B: Questionnaire Notes Bibliography Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
