For people with this surname, see Gopnik (surname).
A Russian gopnik sits in a stairwell in a khrushchyovka building (2016)

A gopnik[a] is a member of a delinquent subculture in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and in other former Soviet republics—a young man (or a woman, a gopnitsa) of urban working-class background.[2]

The collective noun is gopota (Russian: гопота). The subculture of gopota has its roots in working-class communities in the late Russian Empire and gradually emerged underground during the later half of the 20th century in many cities in the Soviet Union.[3][4] Even before their heyday in the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the associated rise in poverty, there was a "gopnik" movement in the Soviet Union. Young men from working class areas rebelled against neformaly (non-conformists) and harassed the lovers of Western music, which had become popular in the Soviet Union in the 1980s.[5]

Etymology

Folk etymology connects the word to the GOP, the acronym for городское общество призора Gorodskoye Obshchestvo Prizora (municipal welfare society), an organization to provide shelter for the destitute.[2][better source needed]

A more plausible origin is the onomatopoeic гоп (gop), 'jump', 'leap', cf. the slang terms го́пать, 'gopat', or гоп-стоп, 'gop-stop' which means mugging or robing.[2][better source needed]

Stereotypical appearance and behaviour

Gopniks are often seen wearing Adidas tracksuits, which were popularized by the 1980 Moscow Olympics Soviet team.[6][7] While sunflower seeds (colloquially semki [семки] or semechki [семечки]) is a common snack in Ukraine and Russia, chewing ("cracking") them in public and spitting out the shells on the ground is characteristic of gopniks.[7]

A stereotype image of a gopnik is that he is conservative, aggressive, homophobic, nationalist and racist.[8] Gopniks often hold strong anti-Western views.[2]

Gopniks are also stereotyped as being prone to substance and alcohol abuse, crime and hooliganism.[9]

It is claimed that the originators of the hardbass style of music initially intended it as a parody on the behavior of gopniks.[10]

Squatting

"Slavic squat"

Gopniks are often seen squatting (Russian slang terms for the position are "на кортах", na kortakh, a truncation of "na kortochkakh", Russian for "squatting") or "doing the crab" ("на крабе", na krabe)).[7][11][9] It is described as a learned behavior, attributed to Russian and Soviet prison culture to avoid sitting on the cold ground.[7] This habit of squatting, known as "słowiański przykuc" is a new stereotype of Russians in Poland, along with being drunk and speaking in mat.[12] The "Slavic squat" or "Slav squat" was also popularized in the West in early 2010s.[13][14][15]

See also

Similar subcultures by country include:

Notes

  1. ^ Russian: гопник, romanized: gopnik, pronounced [ˈɡopnʲɪk]; Ukrainian: гопник, romanized: hopnyk; Belarusian: гопнік, romanized: hopnik[1]

References

  1. ^ Russian plural гопники (gopniki), also гопота (gopota), and гопари (gopari). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y90yaLFoYoA Archived 2020-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d Michele A. Berdy (2014-04-10). "Thugs, Rednecks, Nationalists: Understanding Russia's Gopnik Culture". Moscow Times.
    Anastasiya Fedorova (2014-07-30). "An Ode to Russia's Ugly, Mean Suburbs". Moscow Times.
  3. ^ "Slav Squat – Russian Disturbing Street Trend". Archived from the original on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  4. ^ "Russia's original gangstas: meet the gopniki". 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  5. ^ RIR, specially for (2016-03-30). "Who are Russia's 'gopniks'?". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  6. ^ "Why is Adidas so Popular Among Russians?". 4 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d "Russian Gopniks: How to look like you belong". 9 October 2019.
  8. ^ Anastasiia Fedorova (2014-05-28). "Russia's suburbs lack charm ... which may be why they're creative hotspots". Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  9. ^ a b Ханипов Р. «Гопники» – значение понятия, и элементы репрезентации субкультуры «гопников» в России // "Social Identities in Transforming Societies"
  10. ^ Yegorov, Oleg (2017-12-22). "Russian hard bass: How a musical monstrosity went viral". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  11. ^ Flynn, Moya; Kay, Rebecca; Oldfield, Jonathan D. (1 June 2008). Trans-national issues, local concerns and meanings of post-socialism: insights from Russia, Central Eastern Europe, and beyond. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0761840558. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ W świecie kucających Słowian, September 14, 2019
  13. ^ The Slavic Squat Phenomenon
  14. ^ Kiril Tsanov, The history of the Slav squat
  15. ^ How the “Slav squat” became an internet sensation, The Economist, September 10, 2019
  • Media related to Gopnik at Wikimedia Commons
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopniks
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