Key aspects of representation of Karelian women in the early Soviet press
Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, litvinjulia@yandex.ru
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the study identified the dominant narratives of the “new Karelian woman” in 1920s–1930s Soviet press, contrasting Russian (Krasnaya Karelia) and Finnish (Työläis- ja talonpoikaisnainen) sources.
Objective: to reconstruct the key models of a “new Karelian woman” in the Soviet regional press of the 1920s and early 1930s.
Research materials: republican newspaper “Krasnaya Karelia” (“Red Karelia”) and the women-oriented journal “Työläis- ja talonpoikaisnainen” (“The Worker and the Peasant Woman”) in the Finnish language, as well as a wide range of archival materials (funds of women’s delegate meetings, protocols of village councils, etc.).
Results and novelty of the research: 1. The construction of femininity in the Karelian press was carried out through the opposition of the “traditional” (backward) / “Soviet” (modern). 2. The authors of the Finnish-language edition often emphasized the successes, achievements of Karelians, and their competence. 3. The language policy in Karelia in the 1920s slowed down the process of Karelian education, including higher education. The novelty of the research lies in the introduction of Finnish-language materials into scientific circulation, the application of a comparative method to the analysis of the narratives of two periodicals. The data was processed from the bottom up, moving from particular cases to general conclusions without relying on pre-formulated problematic issues. This approach, on the one hand, confirmed the existence of gender themes common to the Soviet press, on the other hand, it led to the discovery of new perspectives that arose directly from empirical material.
Key words: gender studies, Soviet press, Karelian woman, language policy, history of Karelia
Acknowledgments: the research was funded by the state assignment of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (project № 124022000029-0). The author expresses the gratitude to the reviewers for their expertise and constructive feedback.
For citation: Litvin Yu. V. Key aspects of representation of Karelian women in the early Soviet press // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2025; 15 (4/63): 789–797.
