The Discovery of the Tineidzher
Soviet and Post-Soviet Adolescence
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Soviet culture was obsessed with youth. At the same time, real problems of puberty and adolescence could not be discussed. The ambivalence of this transitional stage of life was pushed aside. The aesthetics of socialist realism demanded clarity. On top of that, there existed in Russian culture an older tradition of hostility towards the body. The verbal taboo fell during Perestroika. However, the apparent post-Soviet liberality in this matter does not mean that puberty has become a phase of life free of fear for Russia’s youth.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2013, pp. 5–22)