First Advisor

Chia Yin Hsu

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Department

History

Language

English

Subjects

Country homes -- Russia – History, Russia -- Civilization -- History, Russia -- Social life and customs -- History, Country life -- Russia -- History

DOI

10.15760/honors-hist.1

Abstract

In Russia, the dacha is typically a second home with a garden, located outside of but not far from a major city. However, this definition fails to fully encapsulate the cultural phenomenon, which has transformed in tandem with Russia throughout the years. The dacha's first manifestations appeared during the reign of Peter the Great, the name coming from the verb "to give," as dachas were given as land allotments by the tsar to his servitors. These grand estates were limited to Russia's most elite and were maintained by enserfed peasants. However, in centuries that followed, the dacha became more accessible to everyday people. Along with the sociopolitical dynamics of Russia, the types of people who owned dachas and how they used them also shifted.

During the Soviet era, the grand country estates of the imperial era were left behind for workers' resorts and sanitoria, which made way for the quaint garden cottage known as the cooperative dacha. The dacha was one of the three state-provided goods, the other two being an apartment and car, to access the Soviet "good life." Since Soviet times, dachas have served as middle-class family gathering spots for gardening, berry-picking, mushroom foraging, and holidays. They have provided sustenance during difficult food shortages and the uncertainty of the post-Soviet transition. In modern Russia, dachas "can be anything from a two-room shack to an oligarch's imitation French chateau." They are not defined by their appearance but rather by their function. Many contend that dachas offer a sense of freedom and community in the countryside. And they give city-dwellers a chance to break away from urban life and connect with their ancestral roots in the forest. Their role is complicated and dynamic, speaking to the evolving history of Russia and its ever-changing social, political, and economic matrix.

This work focuses specifically on works written or available in English. In exploring these sources, we can see how changing perceptions about nature and who has access to it connect to the Russian dacha and Russian identity more broadly. Before the Great Reforms of the 1860s, which began with the emancipation of enserfed peasants, nature was mainly enjoyed on bucolic estates by the noble elite, while peasants had the duty to work the land without its idylls. Following the abolition of serfdom, the nobility was slowly displaced by the growing urban "middle class" vacationer. The romantic palaces of the imperial nobility made way for the dachas of these new professionals, and the unequal society in the countryside became more democratized heading into the Soviet era. During these decades, the dacha became a setting for purposeful leisure as well as to enjoy family life in a healthy natural environment. It became a place to build community while also providing connection to ancient peasant identities through working the soil. In the years following the Soviet Union's dissolution, these connections only grew stronger. However, the story comes full circle with the appearance of the "New Russian" dacha, a modern reinvention of the imperial noble estate.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science with Honors in History.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43111

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