Seasoned Socialism ― Gender and Food in Late Soviet Everyday Life

Seasoned Socialism considers the relationship between gender and food in late Soviet daily life. Political and economic conditions heavily influenced Soviet life and foodways during this period and an exploration of Soviet women’s central role in the daily sustenance for their families as well as the obstacles they faced on this quest offers new insights into intergenerational and inter-gender power dynamics of that time. Food, both in its quality and quantity, was a powerful tool in the Soviet Union. This collection features work by scholars in an array of fields including cultural studies, literary studies, sociology, history, and food studies, and the work gathered here explores the intersection of gender, food, and culture in the post-1960s Soviet context. From personal cookbooks to gulag survival strategies, Seasoned Socialism considers gender construction and performance across a wide array of primary sources, including poetry, fiction, film, women’s journals, oral histories, and interviews. This collection provides fresh insight into how the Soviet government sought to influence both what citizens ate and how they thought about food.

Anastasia Lakhtikova received her PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Washington University in St. Louis.

Angela Brintlinger is Professor of Slavic Languages and Cultures at Ohio State University and author of Writing a Usable Past: Russian Literary Culture (1917–1937) and Chapaev and His Comrades: War and the Russian Literary Hero across the Twentieth Century.

Irina Glushchenko teaches in the School of Cultural Studies of the Division of Humanities at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow. She is author of Food and Drinks: Mikoyan and Soviet Cuisine and editor of Time, Forward! Cultural Politics in the USSR and (with Boris Kagarlitsky and Vitaly Kurennoy) of USSR: Life after Death.