Vladimir Alexandrovich Zverev,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ekaterina Sergeevna Lanovaya,
Postgraduate Student, Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sanitary Culture of the Rural Population of Western Siberia in the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Centuries: Modern Russian Historiography of the Topic
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2024-3-12
The article establishes the general conclusion that the sanitary (sanitary-hygienic, sanitary-domestic) culture of the rural population of Western Siberia in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries is currently being studied across several thematic and problem-driven areas, advanced by scholars of various specializations. Scholars of sociocultural history examine the organizational activities of the tsarist administration, the Orthodox Church, and the rural intellectuals aimed at improving the quality of medical and sanitary-hygienic services available to the population. Ethnographers are primarily engaged in studying the traditional material and spiritual culture of the peasantry, focusing on the sanitary-hygienic qualities of settlement complexes – rural settlements, homesteads, and dwellings. Experts in the history of folk medicine and sanitation, public healthcare, and sanitary education also contribute to this research. The interdisciplinary works of several scholars effectively combine these approaches. The most developed topic currently is the cleanliness and sanitary conditions in the dwellings of long-established peasants and recent settlers. These two demographic groups are presented in historiography as polar opposites in terms of their sanitary-hygienic culture development. Debates have emerged regarding the extent of actual achievements in improving the quality of medical and sanitary-hygienic services for the rural population of Western Siberia during the period studied; the connection between the socioeconomic and sanitary-hygienic status of family households in villages; and potential negative aspects of bathing practices on the health of rural residents. In conclusion, the authors of the article propose the necessity of several thematic and methodological innovations in future research on the historical development of the sanitary culture of the rural population of Western Siberia during the period marked by the modernization of traditional society in both the country and region.
Publishing: 28/06/2024
The article has been received by the editor on 13/05/2024
How to cite: Zverev V.A., Lanovaya E.S. Sanitary Culture of the Rural Population of Western Siberia in the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Centuries: Modern Russian Historiography of the Topic // Historical Courier, 2024, No. 3 (35), pp. 155–170. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2024/ISTKURIER-2024-1-12.pdf]
Links: Issue 3 2024
Keywords: historiography of Siberia; sanitary and hygienic culture; hygiene; sanitation; rural settlement complex; Siberian peasantry