Prisoners' Wives in Post-Soviet Russia: 'For my Husband I am Pining!'

The identity of a prisoner's wife is often a shameful societal stigma. Yet Russia's unique history of imprisonment has provided an unusually positive trope for women who have to come to terms with their partners' incarceration: the 'Decembrist wife' (dekabristka). This trope...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEurope-Asia studies Vol. 66; no. 2; pp. 204 - 224
Main Authors Katz, Elena, Pallot, Judith
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 07.02.2014
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Couples
Exile
Husbands
Identity
Imprisonment
Political Defection
Postcommunist Societies
Prisoners
Rebellions
Russia
Russian history
Stigma
Studies
Wives
Russia
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Summary:The identity of a prisoner's wife is often a shameful societal stigma. Yet Russia's unique history of imprisonment has provided an unusually positive trope for women who have to come to terms with their partners' incarceration: the 'Decembrist wife' (dekabristka). This trope originated in the aftermath of the 1825 'Decembrist' uprising-the first anti-monarchist revolt in modern Russian history. A handful of wives of the perpetrators voluntarily joined their husbands in Siberian exile and, in leaving behind families and comforts, created a precedent to be glorified for future generations. Upheld in Russian national mythology as a model of the exemplary wife, the dekabristka identity lives on. This paper examines its enduring power and significance in contemporary Russia.
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ISSN:0966-8136
1465-3427
DOI:10.1080/09668136.2014.883832