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Document Type

Article

Abstract

This chapter addresses the issue of card playing in the Russian village of the second half of the nineteenth century. The author challenges a widely spread stereotype that Russian peasants did not play in any other way that merely "for fun" or "for entertainment," but rather shows that this view is inconsistent with historical reality, which places card play at the center of daily social life. Social changes of village life after peasants' emancipation (1861) brought about systematic contacts of rural and urban population in many provinces of the country. As a result, a number of city habits and practices were borrowed by the peasant population, gambling being only one of them. Kushkova looks at various aspects of card playing in the post-emancipation Russian village, first of all at its economic side (its role for the peasant budget, means of acquiring "extra" money, etc.). Card playing is also shown to be an "elite" practice that required certain "financial qualification," which were potentially available to all (like the modern lottery system in the United States). The role of card play is examined in light of two central themes: 1) the gradual expansion of card play from the context of a holiday to the sphere of everyday life, and 2) institutionalization of the practice of card playing in some local traditions, together with the social implications of this process. Particular attention is paid to the attitude of various societal groups in the village towards card play, with the emphasis upon the reaction of the village authorities. By drawing upon ethnographic data, Kushkova is able to show the actual lived experience of game players, refuting the limited understanding of media-manipulation as further by conservative thinkers; as such, games are shown as the social facilitator they are and have been since their introduction.

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