There are several versions of the origin of such a capacious and precise concept, but there is an indisputable fact: on September 7, 1992, in an article in the Kommersant newspaper, the term “new Russians” was first used in relation to a certain group of people who quickly got rich after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is worth noting that in the English form the phrase “New Russians” has been used since the 1990s, so here we can also talk about tracing a foreign expression into Russian.
The founder of the fashion for crimson jackets was Sergei Mavrodi
In addition, there is an opinion that the “new Russians” is a kind of linguistic play on the French word “nouveau riche”, which literally translates as “new rich man”. An interesting detail is that at the end of the 19th century, when the industrial revolution was rapidly taking place in the Russian Empire, the word “fast rich” or “fast rich” came into wide use - a person who managed to amass a solid fortune in a limited time. All these terms, however, have an important common feature - they carry a negative connotation in one way or another in relation to their object.
A typical representative of the "new Russians"
"New Russians" appear at the end of late Soviet society. The first representatives of this social stratum were the so-called "guild workers" or owners of illegal underground industries engaged in the production of scarce products. During the years of perestroika, private entrepreneurial activity was legalized in the form of a cooperative movement. At the same time, on the basis of the metropolitan district committees of the Komsomol, the Centers for Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth (TsNTTM) were created, which became the first business structures in the USSR. TsNTTM initiated the process of exchanging nomenclature power for property, which later led to a significant merger between business representatives and those in power. Party workers, officials, energetic business executives, retired officers of the army, the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were drawn into business.
The slogan of one TV program from the 90s: "A new program for new Russians"
In addition to people from the nomenklatura, representatives of all sectors of society rushed into business. Entrepreneurial engineers, scientists, doctors, teachers, athletes, who possessed the ability to commercial activities, energy and ambition, opened their own business.
Representatives of criminal structures also took part in the formation of the emerging layer of entrepreneurs, who took on the functions of protection and patronage (the so-called “protection”), demanding considerable sums for this. “Protection”, as well as trade in illegal goods and services (weapons, drugs, elimination of competitors, etc.) became a way of accumulating initial capital, which was then transferred into forms of legal business.
Nikita Mikhalkov in the film "Blind Man's Buff" brilliantly played a typical "new Russian"
The "new Russians" became an independent, rather closed social stratum, which in a short time developed its own ideology, system of values, thus forming a unique subculture. It is worth noting that during the years of Soviet power, the entrepreneurial tradition was practically lost and had to be revived virtually from scratch. The rich were traditionally perceived in Russian culture rather negatively, the inevitable question of the sources and methods of enrichment always arose, and a professional in the field of trade was somewhat dismissively designated by the word “trader”.
The attitude of the new Russian to the traditional Soviet person found its form in the word "scoop". The new Russian is an individualist, standing firmly on the ground, alien to various intellectual "troubles", such as the idea of selfless service for the good of the fatherland or the impracticality of his behavior. The demonstrative characteristics of the “new Russian” way of life are opposed to Soviet traditions.
The image of the “new Russians” is played up in the TV series “Brigada”
However, the mythologized character “new Russian”, the hero of numerous anecdotes, is more associated with the traditional social groups of historical Russia. This is, first of all, philistinism, whose representatives, under all circumstances, under any authority, equip their life, strive to provide their families, children, and closest relatives with everything necessary. On the other hand, the image of the “new Russian” is recognizable as a traditional Russian robber, littering with easy money, exchanging despicable metal for the noisy delight and approval of comrades, drinking buddies and clients.
Staged shot that perfectly reflects some of the realities of the 90s
Speaking of a typical representative of the "new Russians", one cannot fail to mention the traditional attributes of this social group:
"Crimson Jacket" It is believed that the very idea of outerwear of this color was borrowed by the “new Russians” from the players of the elite intellectual club “What? Where? When?" However, it is also worth noting here the extraordinary thirst for acquiring "branded" things, directly from the largest fashion designers in the world. So, in 1992, Gianni Versace presented his new collection, in which crimson jackets became the highlight of the program, and after the show, all self-respecting Russian businessmen considered it obligatory to dress in Versace. Raspberry jacket has become an indispensable element of the wardrobe of almost any nouveau riche. Raspberry color, probably, could be associated in the minds of the "new Russians" with the thieves' slang word "raspberry", denoting a thieves' den or in general anything good, comfortable or free.
Hairstyle "beaver". This type of haircut involves cutting hair in the area of the temples and the back of the head, while relatively long hair remains in the form of a bang, decreasing towards the back of the head. It is believed that such an image visually reduces the volume of the head and makes the owner of the haircut coarse and very muscular. This is probably why such an uncomplicated silhouette has become so popular among the “new Russians”.
"Golda". A massive gold chain around the neck was worn exclusively outside, for example, over a silk shirt. Such a chain was perfectly complemented by weighty rings and bracelets.
“I am looking for a job with risk” - such an advertisement could be found in newspapers
"Splash". Special specific gestures of the "new Russian". The thieves' vocabulary often uses the "goat" gesture, with which a warning is issued to the interlocutor about the threat to gouge out his eyes. It is also very likely that the characteristic “fingering” of the “new Russians” is reminiscent of the peculiar arrangement of fingers when gripping a pistol: the thumb is located on the safety, the index finger on the trigger, and the ring finger squeezes the handle.
"Boilers". One of the main attributes of a real "new Russian" was the obligatory presence of expensive Swiss watches, for example, the Rolex brand. Gold watches encrusted with precious stones enjoyed special honor. Speaking about the origin of the term "boilers", we can give several versions of its origin. Since most of the thieves' expressions came from Yiddish, the word "cauldron" may also be of the same origin, which means a round tower on which the clock stands. In the English thieves' vocabulary there is a term "kettle banger" - a thief who specializes in stealing watches. The word "cauldrons" could also have a domestic etymology: in the prison camps, the beginning of the lunch break was indicated by a special signal, which was reproduced using dishes (pans) like a bell. In this case, the pot is a cauldron. As a result, for prisoners, the word “cauldrons” metaphorically denoted time, and later this name stuck to wristwatches.
Typical "negotiations" in the office of the "new Russian"
"Six hundredth Mercedes". The Mercedes-Benz S600 model has become the hallmark of the "new Russians". The flagship of the European automotive industry in the early 90s was the dream of representatives of the emerging domestic business. In addition to the "Cossack", the "six hundredth" became the second automobile hero of Russian folklore. Unlike BMW cars, which were called “extortionist fighting vehicles”, the “six hundredth” received a fairly neutral emotional coloring. It is worth noting that the first Mercedes in Russia belonged not to a businessman, but to a politician - Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
"Cabbage". This word in the meaning of "money" appeared in the thieves' jargon along with the terms "forks", "filks". Taking into account the presence in the ordinary language of the phrase "cabbage forks" (i.e. head of cabbage), as well as the distant similarity of such a fork with a bundle of banknotes (especially on the cut), one can understand the origin of this term. In addition, cabbage is a green vegetable, the color referring to the American currency “dollars” or “bucks”. One of the witty essayists of the 90s noted: “The self-confident Mr. Dollar, having got into our Zone and received the nickname Bucks, loses his respectability and begins to behave in an unpredictable way. A lemon in a photocopier box is not the same as a million dollars in a jar.”
“A stupid one turns sour, but a smart one will provide for everything” “Whoever dares, he ate” (It is a question of those who know how to take risks.)
Russian folk proverbs
Who are these "new Russians"? Their appearance is usually explained
ut only by the peculiarities of the shadow economy in Russia. Among
There are two groups of them: the first is entrepreneurs who actively
employed in financial and economic activities; second -
property owners who were behind the scenes involved in the
le 90s in the privatization of a large state property
ness, using their commanding positions in the nomenclature of the former
state system of the USSR. " "
In general, we can say that the most painful and negative impact of the transition to the market has affected the position of previously relatively well-off groups of the population - teachers, cultural figures and scientists. During the reforms there was a change of leaders and outsiders. Representatives of previously prestigious professions have lost their high (or acceptable) financial position, and with it the role of leaders. Previously, very modest "techies", lab heads, to whom the humanitarian intelligentsia treated condescendingly, burst forward from the shadows. It can be said that in Russia the situation of the 20s of the 20th century was literally repeated: “Who was nothing, he became everything.” Such a rapid change of roles in society affects the level of social tension in society, the sharpness of perception of the situation in previously prosperous groups.
The most interesting and promising is the first group, i.e. actual entrepreneurs. Usually these are energetic people no older than
45 years old with high intellectual abilities. They can solve not only professional problems, but also diagnose the situation, make decisions quickly and efficiently, retain a huge amount of information in their memory, take the initiative, take risks (“make or break”), take responsibility not only for money , but also for the fate of the workers entrusted to them.
Given that one has to act in a rather uncertain and unstable economic reality, it is these psychological and personal qualities of people that have helped them to take a leading position in society. They became pioneers not because of hereditary capital, family tradition or parental choice, not because of the appropriate education or special training, but only because of their personal qualities and conscious choice.
Here is one typical example. The wife of the “new Russian” is tired of sitting at home and waiting for her always busy husband from work. She also ceased to be satisfied with her role as a decorative element in the life of a rich husband. She knew how to sew and took it seriously. But not for myself, but for sale. She borrowed money from her husband with a promise to return it with interest, bought fabrics, invented models and styles, purchased equipment, rented a room and hired assistants. A few years later, she became the owner of a large clothing production with a serious clientele, is responsible for the fate and earnings of 2,000 employees - and this is no joke!
It would seem, why did she have such trouble? If you are rich, then why not “live for yourself”, arrange a “beautiful life” for yourself? The character is like this. The example of this woman shows the emergence of a completely new type of people. After all, such enterprising people had to hide from the law and the all-seeing eye of the state, since such activities were regarded as criminal and were punishable. The social role of this group of people is all the more significant if one takes into account the traditional Russian "indifference", the habit of sitting back, hoping for a miracle, expressing one's dissatisfaction with the situation and looking for someone to blame. All this also comes from the conservative syndrome in the Russian archetype (see part II, ch. 3, § 1 and 2).
So, the stratification of a previously unified society occurred not only for objective reasons, but also for psychosocial parameters. The emergence of a layer of entrepreneurs has so far been little appreciated. It is impossible not to be surprised at the speed with which an entrepreneurial stratum appeared in Russia. After all, only 10 years ago
They unanimously grieved that of all the historical losses of pre-revolutionary Russia, it was precisely the loss of a layer of business and active people that was irreversible.
Where could people come from in the Soviet space who know what a “mortgage right”, “exchange rate” or “shares” are! No one has ever taught them this. The legislation of the USSR, with which Russia entered the market, did not provide for market relations. The pioneers of business, breaking all the laws, moved forward like a minefield. It is not surprising that the first cohort of entrepreneurs was made up of the most lively, fast and daring people, people who are said by the people that he “will not let himself be eaten with porridge”, “Knows all the moves and exits”, “Went through fire and water, copper pipes and wolf teeth. They have always been respected. They established the market infrastructure in the shortest historical time: they engaged in the shuttle business, opened stores, created exchanges, banks, holding companies, began to drive cargo across borders, open advertising and production companies, issue shares and bills, burn out and rise again. In the beginning, they learned to trade and mediate. Now, little by little, they learn to produce, grow, build and mine.
Of course, the criminal component was present in Russian business from the very beginning. However, those who have entered the legal economy no longer want to be in conflict with the law. Do not underestimate their flexibility, ability to learn and desire for respectability. After all, managing a criminal business is a dangerous and troublesome business. This asserts in thought that in the future the economic situation in Russia cannot fail to stabilize.
The anecdotal types of the “new Russians”, primitive, dreaming of one thing, are gradually disappearing into the past - to take their capital abroad and “live quietly” somewhere in Cyprus. It must be assumed that the dreams of the latter have already come true. Their image is fully reflected in a series of anecdotes (see part 1, § 4). But people who have consciously chosen the path in adulthood are undoubtedly the least inclined to the primitive eating of their wealth. There are more and more economically responsible people who are determined to create. They often refer to themselves as "new" new Russians ". This group of entrepreneurs is characterized by a desire not to get in the eye, demonstrating their wealth and grand gestures, but on the contrary - a secret donation, for example, to orphanages.
From whom exactly was the group of Russian entrepreneurs who managed to break forward formed? Objectively for pro-
the last 10-12 years, first of all, those who have managed to switch to newly emerging private sector enterprises have won and pulled ahead. It depended on the profession, age and region of residence. In the depressed areas of the country, the probability of going to work in the private sector was, of course, lower than in Moscow, St. Petersburg, or Nizhny Novgorod. Such a factor as position also had its significance: managers, in the main, retained their privileged positions, but average workers lost them.
Basically this group consists of men. Women employed mainly in the humanitarian sectors of the public sector (doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists, etc.) suffered more than men. Those who had dependents in their families at that moment - minor children suffered greatly. In short, almost everyone who remained outside the "market sector" lost.
But in addition to objective factors, at least when dealing with Russians, subjective factors also have their significance, which have had an impact on the dynamics of well-being. For example, the traditional conformist attitude of the Russian archetype - "to be like everyone else" - had its influence. Those who were at the mercy of this attitude and lived according to the principle of “keep a low profile” lost, finding themselves on the sidelines of life, and bright, non-standard personalities with individualist aspirations, characteristic of Western-type societies, broke through and took a leading position.
This means that according to the results of 10 years of reforms, the dynamics of the financial situation of Russians is strictly connected with the types of their mentality: each person used the opportunities provided to him in different ways. A sharp change of leaders and outsiders is not an accident, it depends on the mentality and type of human behavior.
How do Russians treat the rich? The most common stereotype, according to which Russians are suspicious and hostile towards wealth, looks contradictory in the mirror of sociological studies. On the one hand, the proportion of those who treat people who have grown rich quickly in the last 10 years in the same way as everyone else, or with respect and interest - 58% 80 . On the other hand, 30% of Russians are equally consistently suspicious and hostile towards them. This is not even so much envy as the rejection of arrogance, the desire to demonstrate one's success and wealth (all these "fancy" jeeps with tinted windows, huge houses
among empty fields, etc. things). Such people are traditionally spoken of with contempt: “A crow flew into a tall mansion”, “From rags to riches” ...
It should be noted that the "American dream" - to get rich quickly - is not quite popular among Russians. In Russian cinema, you will never see a scene in which the hero (heroine) rolls her eyes in bliss, sorting through a lot of money, pours it on herself like rain or rolls on it in euphoria, as is shown in Hollywood film production.
An interesting statement by the head of the Yukos company, oligarch M. Khodorkovsky (AiF, 2003, No. 5), is that he finds a common language with difficulty even with his parents on the issue of wealth. This is the tradition: in Russia for hundreds of years, successful people were not perceived positively. In Siberia it is even easier (this is how the historical situation has developed), but in the European part, in his opinion, it is just a disaster. And the situation will change only with the change of generations, when the old people leave and with the help of new technologies and the Internet, a new generation of normal Europeans will grow up and be brought up. People brought up in the former system will never be able to become successful in business or have a positive attitude towards this activity. Despite the obvious extremism, it seems that there is a reasonable grain in this opinion...
For 10-12 years, the number of people who attributed to entrepreneurs such qualities as “indifference to state interests”, “promiscuousness in means”, and “graft” has decreased by several percent. But at the same time, the number of people who blame businessmen for their "ruthless, consumerist attitude towards people" has grown by 10%.
Perhaps there is a hidden reproach in this? Hidden expectation of help from the rich: they are obliged to share, since they took a place at the top and took this place away from the state.
But even those who are satisfied with the difference in income and the presence of rich "new Russians" are not entirely indifferent to what this difference is in material terms. There is a line where the pay gap stifles even the most competitive spirit. Studies at the Institute of Psychology claim that a Russian is ready to accept if the difference in income between the richest and the poorest is 5-7 times, but no more. A larger gap is perceived as unfair, people begin to think that the rich get their money undeservedly.
And now, according to the director of the Institute of Population of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Natalya Rimashevskaya, the richest Russians are 14 times richer than the poorest. For comparison: in the USA it is 7-8 times, in Europe - 4 times 93 . This data is disturbing.
Let us also remember that the way in which money was earned is very important for the Russian mentality, it is very important that a person works, strains. It is equally important that he spend money "wisely", not throwing it to the wind, but "for the benefit of society." For example, an engineer agrees that some academician gets much more than him, but he no longer forgives this for a television announcer: what kind of job is it to be a “talking head”? Economic ignorance will set him all the more up against a banker who produces nothing concrete.
The content of the article
NEW RUSSIANS- a concept that arose to refer to a new social stratum that appeared in Russia at the end of perestroika, against the backdrop of the collapse of Soviet society and the formation of a market economy. In the most general sense, the concept of "new Russians" includes a layer of medium and large entrepreneurs and big management. The distinctive features of the new Russians are the presence of "their own business" (or a highly paid job in a large corporation), a high (inconceivable by Soviet standards) level of income and a specific, new Russian way of life.
For the first time, the phrase "new Russians" appeared in the publication of the Kommersant newspaper in 1992. The prehistory of the concept of "new Russians" is associated with the name of the American journalist Hendrick Smith, who wrote a book with the same name in the late 1980s. Translated from English, the concept of "new Russians" was picked up and firmly established in the modern Russian language. The successful entry of the image of the “new Russians” into Russian culture testified that this concept responded to the society’s need to designate and understand a new important phenomenon that marked the onset of post-Soviet reality.
For the most part, the phrase "new Russians" refers to the journalistic context. It is not a strict scientific concept. This is a rather vague, collective image that carries a significant evaluative component. At the same time, the image of the "new Russians" was established in the national culture. Therefore, paying tribute to the cultural tradition, specialists who consider the processes of the formation of entrepreneurship in post-Soviet Russia (philosophers, sociologists, economists, culturologists, psychologists, political scientists) use the image of “new Russians” most often in popular publications.
Two dimensions of the described phenomenon are essentially different. "New Russians" as a collective concept that expresses some social, economic and cultural reality (or the phenomenon of "new Russians") and the mythological image of "new Russians" that has developed in Russian society.
"New Russians" as a phenomenon.
Since the "new Russians" are a vague social entity, there are discrepancies in defining the boundaries of this phenomenon. Sociologists refer to the “new Russians” as the class of entrepreneurs as a whole, and the business elite of modern Russian society, and the so-called “middle class”. As a rule, small businesses and oligarchs are not referred to as “new Russians”.
"New Russians" appear in the depths of late Soviet society. The first were the so-called "guild workers" or owners of illegal underground industries engaged in the production of scarce products. In the late 1980s, during perestroika, private entrepreneurial activity was legalized in the form of a cooperative movement. At the same time (1987–1988), on the basis of the capital district committees of the Komsomol, the Centers for Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth (TsNTTM) were created, which were the first business structures in the USSR. TsNTTM initiated the process of exchanging nomenclature power for property. Party and Soviet workers, officials, energetic business executives, retired officers of the Soviet army, the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were drawn into business. In parallel with the flow of people from the nomenklatura, representatives of all walks of life rushed into business. Entrepreneurial engineers, scientists, doctors, teachers, athletes, who possessed the ability to commercial activities, energy reserve and ambition opened their own business. The next stream, forming a layer of entrepreneurs, is associated with criminals. Organized crime structures took on the functions of protecting and patronizing commercial enterprises (the so-called "protection") by imposing substantial requisitions on them. “Protection”, as well as trade in illegal goods and services (weapons, drugs, elimination of competitors, etc.) became a way of accumulating initial capital, which was then transferred into forms of legal business.
In 1992, the community of entrepreneurs that formed from these social flows began to be called the “new Russians”. Further, as the privatization processes unfolded, a layer of entrepreneurs concentrated in their hands a large part of the Russian economy. Thus, in 10–12 years, a new, rather closed social stratum has developed in the country with its own philosophy of life, system of values, and a special subculture. The new social category has gone through all the stages of formation and created its own style and way of life, formed tastes, forms of communication, models of recreation, etc.
The objective characteristics of the community of entrepreneurs are studied by sociologists. In the former socialist countries, the number of suddenly rich people who make up a special subculture varies from 1 to 5-10% of the population. According to Olga Kryshtanovskaya (Head of the Sector for Elite Studies at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences), in the mid-1990s, the average age of a typical representative of the business elite was 42 years. 78% of them are city dwellers, 93% have higher education or various academic degrees. These people are absolute workaholics, working 12-hour days, six days a week. Rest is no more than one week a year, 87% of respondents prefer to rest abroad.
The fundamental feature of the formation of the "new Russians" was that this socio-cultural community arose from scratch. By the end of the 1980s, the cultural tradition of Russian entrepreneurship did not exist (it was suppressed three generations ago). Both Soviet ideology and the patriarchal cultural tradition (from which much of Soviet society grew) were egalitarian. Individual economic activity was not welcomed, entrepreneurial activity was regarded as a criminal offense, and the property stratification of society as an unconditional social evil.
The Soviet intelligentsia demonstrated a particular rejection of entrepreneurial values, reproducing the aristocratic rejection of the wealthy “Tit Tityches” inherited from the nobility. The Sixties cult of impracticality and striving for the world of spiritual values rejected the "new Russian". The intelligentsia's rejection of entrepreneurs was also due to the fact that the transition to a market economy in Russia led to the impoverishment of a significant part of the Soviet intelligentsia, which lost its positions and joined the stratum of the "new poor".
Therefore, the subculture of new Russians was formed in rejection and opposition to both traditional and Soviet values. The attitude of the new Russian to the traditional Soviet person found its form in the word "scoop". The new Russian is an individualist, standing firmly on the ground, alien to the ethos of impracticality and other intellectual "troubles". Prestigious consumption, demonstrative characteristics of the “new Russian” way of life are opposed to Soviet traditions. However, a closer look reveals a connection between the image of the new Russian and the characters traditional for Russia.
First of all, behind the “new Russian” is the centuries-old tradition of Russian philistinism. This is a Russian inhabitant (whatever class he belongs to), firmly standing on the ground, having a taste for a good life, appreciating well-being, comfort and convenience. Under all circumstances, under any authority, he arranges his life, strives to provide for his family, children, closest relatives with everything necessary, and in his basic life aspirations precedes the “new Russian”.
On the other hand, the image of the “new Russian” is recognizable as a traditional Russian robber, a free Cossack, a gold miner who littered with easy money, exchanging despicable metal for the noisy delight and approval of comrades, drinking buddies and clients.
A well-known character of Russian literature peeps through in the “new Russian” - a suddenly rich merchant who has come into courage from the money that has fallen on his head, bathing the singer in champagne and smearing the waiters with mustard, but, at another moment, willingly donating to the church and charity.
Finally, in the image of the "new Russian" we recognize one of the main characters of Soviet society. This is an enthusiast of the "case", disappearing at work until late and giving him all his strength. The only difference is that the new Russian devotes all his strength not to “our”, but to “his” cause.
For a sociologist, the new Russian is a model of extreme manifestation of individualism, conspicuous behavior in general and conspicuous consumption in particular. New Russians do not manifest their worldview, they stand out with their style and way of life. When it comes to professional activities, new Russians are more often referred to as businessmen or entrepreneurs. But when the conversation turns to the private sphere - about the financial situation and personal environment - then they become "new Russians."
The "new Russians" form a fairly closed environment. Friendly relations with representatives of other strata of society are not welcome here. The typical "new Russian" communicates with his family and other "new Russians", their wives, mistresses and children. The language of the new Russians, like the language of any other subculture, has demonstrative characteristics and allows you to quickly and unmistakably single out “one of your own”.
The subculture of the "new Russians" is very dynamic, focused on Western consumption standards, easily assimilating any technical innovations and new amenities. In general, the layer of new Russians is oriented towards Western mass culture and the way of life of the middle class in Western countries.
According to experts (psychologists, sexologists), family relations among the new Russians are quite tense. Wives are usually financially dependent and live in constant competition because their husband is attractive to many women. According to sociologists, in wealthy families, 2.5 times more often than in the whole country, husbands use physical violence against their wives (the so-called "domestic violence"). Family problems are associated with the unequal position of spouses, chronic fatigue of the husband, who spends most of his life at work, constant stress, etc.
The mythological image of the "new Russian".
The mythological image of the new Russians is formed in the culture by the efforts of the whole society and is reflected in journalism, modern prose, tabloid novels, television series, comedians' sketches, and an extensive series of anecdotes. An analysis of these sources testifies to the striking distance between myth and reality.
So, according to sociological research, the vast majority of entrepreneurs have higher education. Education in this environment is a value. New Russians teach their children at prestigious universities. The mythological new Russian appears as a person with a low level of education (three classes) and an insignificant general culture. He teaches the child fingering and slang.
In order to stay afloat, a real entrepreneur works 12-hour days. The mythological new Russian spends money, has fun and relaxes. He is not conceived as an organizer of the production of any goods or services. The source of income for the new Russian is air. This is speculation, taking away state property, all kinds of pyramid schemes, etc.
Real business eschews crime, masters legal mechanisms for solving emerging problems and protecting its interests. Even big capital, which is criminal in its origin, is looking for ways of legalization, striving for respectability. The myth does not distinguish between an entrepreneur and a bandit. In anecdotes, “brother” and the new Russian appear as synonyms, and this points us to the ideas prevailing in society about the sources of income and the way of life of the new Russian.
Sociologists confirm the propensity of the "new" to prestigious consumption, but the mythological new Russian appears as a consumer of a fantastic, Rabelaisian scale, in the spirit of an Arab sheikh.
Two new Russians meet. One says to the other:
“I heard it’s fashionable to keep exotic animals these days.
Yes, in kind. I just bought myself an elephant.
Hear bro. Its cool!
- Yes, you know, when he wakes up at five in the morning and goes
to a watering place, then stomps loudly, wakes up the neighbors.
- Oh well, they'll be patient.
Yes, the neighbors are bullshit. He's also their hippos
The image of the mythological "new Russian" exists in a package of stable associations. “New Russians” are fitness clubs, renovation, holidays in Brazil and Jamaica, a paid school, a house in Spain, an estate near Moscow, service staff, a personal driver, a security service, a prestigious car (six hundredth Mercedes), clubs and casinos, a young wife - at home and a young attractive secretary at work, violations of laws, bribes to government officials, a fierce struggle with competitors, shooting a car on a country highway, a magnificent monument in a prestigious cemetery.
Of particular interest are the anecdotes about the new Russian. I must say that jokes about the new Russian are perhaps the only and most striking series of jokes that arose in the post-Soviet era. The general intonation of these jokes is chuckling, but often benevolent. The new Russian appears as a "terrible child", absurd and touching, tasteless and stubborn. Its main property, defining feature is the ability and desire to consume prestigiously. The new Russian has learned the power of money and the beauty of spending that money. In this sense, he can do everything:
Caught a new Russian goldfish and tells her:
What do you want, fish?
Tales about new Russians are reminiscent of jokes about Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. There is only one subject in them - the Russian national character. In other words, the people will recognize their own in the new Russian. The new Russian is a simple person, just like the rest of us, only he was very lucky. The anecdote about the new Russians makes fun of the collisions of the life of a suddenly rich commoner.
Sometimes in bikes the situation of a collision of the 600th Mercedes with the Zaporozhets is played up. Thus, in the space of an anecdote, the conflict of the new Russian with the common man is modeled. It is characteristic that the owner of "Zaporozhets" often, in an unexpected way, wins. The old man driving the Zaporozhets turns out to be the father of the commander of the Berkut special forces unit. The little man, the teller and listener of the anecdote, tries on the conflict with a new social force and seeks victory, at least in the anecdote. Exactly the same cunning peasant from Russian fairy tales fooled the master.
Anecdotes about new Russians are evidence of the most massive, folklore development of the phenomenon of new Russian entrepreneurship, its inclusion in the world of national culture.
Results.
As a socio-cultural phenomenon, the "new Russians" bear signs of both unique and specific and universal. The specific features of the "new Russians" are given by the peculiarities of Russian culture and the specifics of the transition from state socialism to a market economy. Such a transition took place in the former Soviet republics, as well as in the former socialist countries, and gave rise to similar processes. Newspapers write about "new Ukrainians", Kazakhs or Bulgarians. We can talk about the universal patterns of formation of the layer of entrepreneurs in society that survived the era of socialism. The "new rich" are made up of similar social flows. They are characterized by demonstrative characteristics of behavior, the creation of a special subculture, the isolation of this layer, high consumer standards, active development of elements of the Western European way of life, involvement in the global context (frequent business contacts with foreign entrepreneurs, vacations abroad, mastering spoken English), expensive education. The ambivalent attitude towards the “new” on the part of the rest of society also turns out to be universal.
In a broader historical perspective, the new Russians fit into a never-ending gallery of economically elevated social groups. The birth of the "new rich" is a universal phenomenon in world history. A poetic text created in ancient Egypt, called Cry of Ipuwer, dating back to the era of the Hyksos invasion, is filled with lamentations about the social upheaval that befell Egypt. The country has turned over like a potter's wheel, Ipuwer broadcasts. The poor became rich, and the haves became poor. “Who did not even have a boat, became the owner of the ships”, one “who was not able to make a coffin for himself, became the owner of the tomb, while the bodies of the former owners of the tombs were thrown into the desert.” Similar social cataclysms also occurred in ancient society. Roman satirists described freedmen who suddenly became rich. The "new rich" appear both in the mature Middle Ages, and at the dawn of capitalism, and in an era close to ours, for example, in England, in the middle of the 20th century. In today's world, the rise of the "new rich" is also taking place outside the collapsed socialist camp. So the states of Asia and Africa, which recently gained independence, are in full swing forming a layer of “new” masters of life.
The appearance of the "new rich" is always fixed by society and causes complex feelings among contemporaries. Ultimately, the historical fate of those who have become rich depends on what social functions this group of society takes on, what its duties are, what it gives to society as a whole.
In relation to the culture of the whole society, the new Russians perform the function of a group leading in the development of new household items, household technologies, and lifestyle models. Such realities of modern life as a cell phone, a credit card, a summer vacation in the resorts of Antalya, or a satellite antenna are first mastered by new Russians, and then gradually become the property of the masses.
It must be said that the very existence of the “new Russians” became a factor that radically changed the mentality and psychology of the whole society. The new Russians provided a clear example of effective entry into the new economic and social reality. The path proposed by the new Russians could be rejected on ethical or cultural grounds, but the fact of their existence cannot be ignored.
In recent years, the concept of “new Russian” has been heard less frequently. Some weariness from the image of the “new Russian” is felt in the culture. The seemingly endless series of anecdotes dries up and fades away. Publicists turn to other topics. The phenomenon hiding under the image of the “new Russian” has lost the brightness of novelty and is gradually moving into the category of mastered realities of modern life. The epic era, when it seemed that one could get rich overnight, is a thing of the past. The business environment is also changing. There is a formation of mature forms of sociality and culture of a market society. The class of entrepreneurs is cleared of random people. Yesterday's "new Russians" are losing signs of a diva that strikes the imagination, becoming a solid and familiar element of the socio-cultural landscape.
Igor Grigorievich Yakovenko
a concept that arose to designate a new social stratum that appeared in Russia at the end of perestroika, against the backdrop of the collapse of Soviet society and the formation of a market economy. In the most general sense, the concept of "new Russians" includes a layer of medium and large entrepreneurs and big management. The distinctive features of the new Russians are the presence of "their own business" (or a highly paid job in a large corporation), a high (inconceivable by Soviet standards) level of income and a specific, new Russian way of life.
For the first time, the phrase "new Russians" appeared in the publication of the Kommersant newspaper in 1992. The prehistory of the concept of "new Russians" is associated with the name of the American journalist Hendrick Smith, who wrote a book with the same name in the late 1980s. Translated from English, the concept of "new Russians" was picked up and firmly established in the modern Russian language. The successful entry of the image of the “new Russians” into Russian culture testified that this concept responded to the society’s need to designate and understand a new important phenomenon that marked the onset of post-Soviet reality.
For the most part, the phrase "new Russians" refers to the journalistic context. It is not a strict scientific concept. This is a rather vague, collective image that carries a significant evaluative component. At the same time, the image of the "new Russians" was established in the national culture. Therefore, paying tribute to the cultural tradition, specialists who consider the processes of the formation of entrepreneurship in post-Soviet Russia (philosophers, sociologists, economists, culturologists, psychologists, political scientists) use the image of “new Russians” most often in popular publications.
Two dimensions of the described phenomenon are essentially different. "New Russians" as a collective concept that expresses some social, economic and cultural reality (or the phenomenon of "new Russians") and the mythological image of "new Russians" that has developed in Russian society.
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Valentina Fedotova. "New Russians". What's new in them? What is Russian in them? Russian Federation, 1994, No. 18
Kryshtanovskaya Olga. Portrait of a modern elite. Satellite Digest, 1995
Kryshtanovskaya Olga. The elite of the “new Russians” is working hard, including on themselves. Izvestia, August 12, 1995
Boguslavskaya Z. Windows to the south. Sketch for a portrait of "new Russians". New World, 1995, No. 8
Jokes about new Russians. Minsk, 1998
Barsukova C. Who are the "new Russians"? Knowledge Power, 1998, No. 1
Cherednichenko T. Russia in the 1990s: in slogans, ratings, images(current lexicon of cultural history). New literary review, M., 1999
Semenova-Andrievskaya E. Diagnosis: "wife of the new Russian"? Arguments and facts. Internet version, No. 45 (1046), November 8, 2000
Musienko Yu.I. "Stylish" "disassembly" in the interior. Project Siberia, 2001, No. 11
Kara-Murza S.G. Soviet civilization. Book two. From the Great Victory to the present day. M., 2002
500 jokes about the hard life of rich people. EKSMO, M., 2003
Find "NEW RUSSIAN" on
"New Russians" is a term denoting representatives of the social class of the CIS who made a great fortune in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, entrepreneurs of a new type.
Entrepreneurial engineers, scientists, doctors, teachers, athletes, who possessed the ability to commercial activities, energy reserve and ambition opened their own business. Organized crime structures took on the functions of protecting and patronizing commercial enterprises (the so-called "protection") by imposing substantial requisitions on them. "Protection", as well as trade in illegal goods and services, became a way of accumulating initial capital, which was then transferred into forms of legal business.
In 1992, the community of entrepreneurs that formed from these social flows began to be called the “new Russians”. The words “roof” and “fellowship” are closely related to the word “new Russian”, denoting people from a criminal environment who used force and criminal methods to resolve emerging conflicts, as well as the terms “throw”, “arrow”, “grind”.
The "new Russians" form a fairly closed environment. Friendly relations with representatives of other strata of society are not welcome here. The typical "new Russian" communicates with his family and other "new Russians", their wives, mistresses and children. The language of the new Russians, like the language of any other subculture, has demonstrative characteristics and allows you to quickly and unmistakably single out “one of your own”.
The mythological image of the new Russians is formed in the culture by the efforts of the whole society and is reflected in journalism, modern prose, tabloid novels, television series, comedians' sketches, and an extensive series of anecdotes. Of particular interest are the anecdotes about the new Russian. I must say that jokes about the new Russian are perhaps the only and most striking series of jokes that arose in the post-Soviet era. The general intonation of these jokes is chuckling, but often benevolent. The new Russian appears as a "terrible child", absurd and touching, tasteless and stubborn.
Characteristic attributes in the 1990s were considered:
A red or crimson jacket is a distinctive style of attire of a "tough", its symbol (also a symbol of bad taste), black jeans of a fashion brand, pointed black shoes. According to the player “What? Where? When?" Andrey Kozlov, the "new Russians" began to wear crimson jackets after they appeared in this game.
Massive gold chain around the neck (“gold”), gold chain loose.
Weighty gold signet ring ("nut"). Usually on several fingers.
Large watches (“boilers”) of an expensive brand, preferably gilded and with precious stones.
A 1991 Mercedes-Benz S600 car in the back of a W140 (“six hundredth Mercedes”, “600th gelding”, “Suitcase”, “Bandit”, “Boar”, “one hundred and forty”), Jeep Grand Cherokee (“chirp”, “ Cherkan, Jeep, Zhip, Cherokee, Wide), Nissan Terrano (tyrannka), Mitsubishi Pajero (lean), Toyota Land Cruiser (Kruzak, Kukuruzer), Mercedes Geländewagen ("gelik", "cube"), Chevrolet Tahoe ("coffin"), Volvo 940, Mercedes-Benz W124, BMW 5, Audi 100, BMW 7 ("boomer"), Lincoln Town Car.
A mobile phone (“pipe”, “mobile”, “cellular phone”), which was considered a luxury and prestige item until the early 2000s.
Shaved "hedgehog" head (or only the back of the head) ("turnip").
“Fingering”: characteristic gestures with the hands with the little finger, index and sometimes thumb bent and the middle and ring fingers pressed to the center of the palm (“spread”, “fingers”, “fingers”, “boy goat”).
The use of new Russian jargon (the words "type", "in kind", "purely", "specifically", "in any way", etc.). Blat Fenya.
"Cabbage" - a lot of cash in US dollars, or money in general ("grandmothers", "loot", "greens", "lave").
Caught a new Russian goldfish and tells her:What do you want, fish?
