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Rural or Urban? Motherland Territory in Perception of City-dwellers of Provincial Towns in Russia
In this conference paper will be presented the results of empiric research (2000-2014) devoted to the comparative analysis of the image of motherland territory among women and men from provincial Russian towns as well as comparative analysis of the image of motherland territory among women from big cities and small towns.
The results of the first stage of the research (year 2002, 515 people interviewed, men and women from 16 provincial towns and a city) show that the women’s point of view on provincial town as a territory of their life is nature-centered. In stories about provincial towns women tell about yards and gardens, mushrooms, fishery, fresh air walks, that makes the image of a rural territory. The image of motherland among provincial town men is also nature-centered; however men more often talk about industrial manufacturing. Their stories represent the factor of urbanization of the territory more.
Women from big cities represent their image of the territory with the help of architecture and culture – their image is more urbanized. Consequently the most non-urban (in fact rural) image of the motherland territory belongs to women from small provincial towns. The result of the research come out to a paradox: some part of town population describes it as a rural area.
We connect this fact with harder economic conditions in provincial towns in Russia in the end of XX – beginning of XXI century. On this historical stage women in Russian province, living in urban area, used mostly rural recourses for life (gardens, mushrooms, fishery etc.). The story about the town becomes the story about the “mother earth”.
At the present moment the second stage of the research is close to the end (year 2014, 350 people interviewed, men and women from 10 provincial towns and a city). The economic situation in most of the towns has been improved by the present moment. At this stage we plan to find out if “the rural view” of provincial town women has remained the same and if economic development has provoked the preference of urban recourses among women from provincial towns.