Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
: the state itself, the mindset and way of life of average
Soviet people
The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" ().
Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...
, and vestiges of the Soviet Union in the psychology of people in modern
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
Borenstein explains the catchiness of the term because it phonetically resembles the concept it is applied to. "Soviet", and it is a repurposed existing term "
dustpan
A dustpan, the small version of which is also known as a "hearth brush and shovel” (from its use of cleaning the fireplace hearth), is a cleaning utensil. The dustpan is commonly used in combination with a broom or long brush. The small dustpa ...
".Eliot Borenstein 2. The Rise and Fall of Sovok from ''Soviet Self-Hatred'' Several people are commonly credited with the introduction of the term. Lyudmila Kasyanova writes that the direct lowly meaning of the term predefines the negative evaluation of the topic and enhances the pejorative perception of the subject it is referring to.
There are a number of derived words: adjective: "sovkovy" (), "pertaining to 'sovok'"; noun: ('sovkovost', "sovokness") the totality of the traits of a ''sovok'', and the adverb in .
Soviet Union
In its generic meaning the term implies something dysfunctional, commenting on why things are run poorly or why a person behaves badly. Borenstein writes: "When the Soviet Union is called 'sovok', everyone knows what this means: economic deprivation, administrative incompetence, defective consumer technology, an intrusive public culture, bombastic rhetoric that is easily ignored, and widespread hypocrisy."
Soviet people
Borenstein concisely defines a "sovok" person as "Soviet
yokel
Yokel is one of several derogatory terms referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. The term is of uncertain etymology and is only attested from the early 19th century on.
Yokels are depicted as straightforward, simple, na ...
" and the first two chapters of his book ''Soviet Self-Hatred'' are devoted to the analysis of this category of people. In the opinion of
Alexander Genis
Alexander Genis (born February 11, 1953) is a Russian–American writer, broadcaster, and cultural critic. He has written more than a dozen non-fiction books.
Genis, an American citizen, resides in the New York City area. He is the father of Da ...
, among the features of a ''sovok'' are "a violent thirst for equality, a deaf hatred for anyone else's success, and an indolence that blazes energy".
Modern Russia
Many people think that in modern Russia, despite its transition away from
Communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
Levada Center
The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history t ...
Homo Sovieticus
''Homo Sovieticus'' (Dog Latin, cod Latin for 'Soviet Man') is an Anti-communism, anti-communist pejorative term coined to describe the average conformism, conformist individual in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries. Popularized by ...
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Russian political jokes
Russian political jokes are a part of Russian humour and can be grouped into the major time periods: Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. In the Soviet period political jokes were a form of social protest, mocking and criticising ...