The Generation that Formed a Subculture: “Stilyagi” and Their Literary Representations in the 1990s–2000s

• Main Author: Olga Yurievna Bagdasaryan
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Ural Federal University Press 2016-12-01
• Series: Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки
• Subjects: литература ХХ–ХХI вв.; стиляги; поколение; субкультура; ансамблевое единство.
• Online Access: https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/Izvestia2/article/view/2206
• ISSN: 2227-2283; 2587-6929

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of the stilyagi in the literature of 1990s—2000s. Referring to works by V. Slavkin, A. Kozlov, and G. Litvinov, the author explores the representations of the stilyagi counterculture. The author provides a thorough analysis of The Monument to the Unknown Stilyaga by V. Slavkin that is one of the first textual memoirs that intends to interpret the phenomenon of the stilyagi as a generational group. The book analysis as a unity reveals two conflicting trends. The first one mythologises the stilyagi as a “special generation”, while the second one deconstructs the myth about the romantic figure of the future representative of the 1960s deceived by history. In A. Kozlov’s memoirs (Kozel Playing the Sax) the stilyagi are treated as “people of his generation”. At the same time the author is interested in the stilyagi as in “jazz fans”, and that is why they are included in the history of musical styles. G. Litvinov’s book (Stilyagi: How It Happened) refers to the Monument to the Unknown Stilyaga and attempts to encyclopedically describe the phenomenon as a subculture. The book contains phrases of former stilyagi, illustrations and photos. The ensemble structure of the book creates a dissonance effect between the author’s efforts to finalise the phenomenon and conflicting and living testimonies of the epoch. Overall, the literary representations of the stilyagi indicate that it is impossible to describe their story as a collective / common destiny.