Counterculture

In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms are at odds with those of the social mainstream, a cultural equivalent of a political opposition. In casual practice, the term came to prominence in the general press as it was used to refer to the youth rebellion that swept North America and Western Europe in the 1960s and early 1970s. Earlier countercultural milieus in 19th century Europe included the traditions of Bohemianism and of the Dandy.

Russian counterculture

Although not exactly equivalent to the English definition, the term "?????????????" (rus. Counterculture) found a constant use in Russian to define a cultural movement that promotes acting outside usual conventions of Russian culture - use of explicit language, graphical description of sex, violence and illicit activities and uncopyrighted use of "safe" characters involved in everything mentioned.

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During the early 70s, Russian culture was forced into quite a rigid framework of constant optimistic approach to everything. Even mild topics, such as breaking marriage and alcohol abuse, tended to be viewed as taboo by the media. In response, Russian society grew weary of the gap between real life and the art world. Thus, the folklore and underground culture tended to be considered forbidden fruit. On the other hand, the general satisfaction with the quality of the existing artwork promoted parody, often within existing settings. For example, the Russian anekdotal joke tradition turned the settings of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy into a grotesque world of sexual excess. Another well-known example is a cycle of short verses that dealt exclusively with cruel deaths and/or mutilations of small innocent children.

Related Topics:
Russian anekdotal joke - War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - Cycle of short verses

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In the mid-80s, the Glasnost policy allowed the production of not-so-optimistic artwork. As a consequence, Russian cinema during the late 80s to the early 90s was dominated by crime-packed action movies with explicit (but not necessarily graphic) scenes of ruthless violence and social dramas on drug abuse, prostitution and failing relations. Interestingly enough, although Russian movies of that time would be rated AO in USA due to violence, the use of explicit language was much milder than in American cinema.

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Russian counterculture as we know it emerged in the late 90s with the increased popularity of the internet. Several web sites appeared that posted user-written short stories that dealt with sex, drugs and violence. Since stories were actually posted by editors, it's pretty clear what the characteristics of Russian counterculture were. The following features are considered most popular topics for the artwork:

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• Wide use of explicit language
• Deliberately bad spelling
• Drug theme - descriptions of drug use and consequences of substance abuse - at times quite gruesome
• Alcohol use - positive
• Sex and violence - nothing is a taboo. In general, violence is rarely advocated, while sex is considered to be a good thing.
• Parody - media advertising, classic movies, pop culture and children's books are considered to be fair game.
• Nonconformism to daily routine and set nature of things
• Politically incorrect topics - mostly racism, xenophobia and homophobia

As with pornography, Russian counterculture has blurred borders and is hard to define. Generally, any content posted on a number of counterculture sites, like Udaff, Litprom or Fuck.ru is considered counterculture, although some of the stories there have nothing to do with all of the above apart from being counterculture-inspired.

Related Topics:
Pornography - Udaff

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The interesting aspect is the influence of the contra-cultural developments on the Russian pop culture. In addition to the in Russian traditional music styles like songs with the jail related lyric, the new music styles with the explicit language were developed. The most known representative of such popular music is Russian band ?Leningrand?.

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