Russian Manor in the mirror of Soviet-era guidebooks (using the example of the Moscow region)

Abstract

The article examines the image of the estate, which was created and broadcast in the texts of guidebooks for the Moscow region of the 1920s — 1980s. The Moscow region was chosen as the area of study as a region with a high concentration of estate heritage, which has great historical and cultural value. Taking into account the significant circulations (up to 100,000 copies) and the great interest of Soviet people in tourism, the texts of the guidebooks can be considered an important supertext that had a significant impact on the formation of public opinion, including the idea of estates. Based on the study of more than twenty guidebooks of different times, general trends in the presentation of material related to the estate heritage are traced. Thus, the author draws conclusions about the selectivity in the choice of material and the engagement of most of the guidebooks of the 1920s — mid—1950s, which focused the reader's attention on the class inequality that underlay estate life. The article shows how gradually, as we move away from the revolutionary events, such an angle of consideration of the estate heritage softened. In guidebooks, it was increasingly possible to find an understanding of the estate as a valuable historical and artistic heritage that needs to be preserved and studied. Guidebooks of the Soviet era are of great interest today — first of all, culturological, demonstrating the dynamics of understanding the estate heritage; in addition, they contain a number of valuable information about manor ensembles, in particular, about their preservation in different periods of time, stages of museification, etc.