Subversive Songs in Liminal Space: Womenʼs Political Častuški in Post-Soviet Russian Rural Communities

Women are not known for their political satire, but they do traditionally engage in carnival laughter. During the Soviet period women engaged in political chastushki, which combine both types of humor. These could be either subversive and underground (and could lead to arrest) or official and used for reeducation. In the post-Soviet period, elder rural women demonstrated their attunement to both of these Soviet contexts. The community quality of the chastushka form and its context, the public village forum, held out the promise of safety. Political chastushki helped women construct a social identity with a distinct public voice.