The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
175
The American Journal of Social Science and Education Innovations
(ISSN
–
2689-100x)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
175-182
Doi :
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume03Issue05-34
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MPACT
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ACTOR
2021:
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857
OCLC
- 1121105668
ABSTRACT
Organization of leisure of the population in the cities of Karakalpakstan in 1960-1980sis analyzed in the
article as well as the meaning of the ‘leisure’ term is determined.
The cultural leisure of townspeople was sufficiently divorced. The organization of the leisure was
based not only on the party and state directions, but on active amateur involvement of the population
groups in cultural life of the regions. Development of city infrastructure and increase of living
standards of the population required improvement in all fields of industry and livelihood of the society.
The peculiarity of leisure organization for Soviet citizens is uncovered in the article. It differs by its
ideological purpose and intension to involve citizens into achievement of the goals stated by the
government for the industrial enterprises.
The methodology of the research is based on local materials. In this research we focused on specifics
and problems of leisure and recreation activities of Karakalpak region during the studied period of
time.
The scientific novelty of the research is that the research of the leisure and recreation activities within
the period from 1960’s to 1980’s has been studied for the first time in Karakalpakstan. The social
problems of the region and ways to solve these problems by the government of the Republic were
studied on the basis of statistic data, archives and articles of that period.
Organization Of Leisure In The Cities Of Karakalpakstan In 1960-
1980
Gulnara Seydametova
Doctor Of Philosophy (PhD) On Historical Sciences, Karakalpak State University Named After
Berdakh, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
http://usajournalshub.c
om/index,php/tajssei
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
176
The American Journal of Social Science and Education Innovations
(ISSN
–
2689-100x)
Published:
May 31, 2021 |
Pages:
175-182
Doi :
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume03Issue05-34
I
MPACT
F
ACTOR
2021:
5.
857
OCLC
- 1121105668
KEYWORDS
Leisure of the population, clubs, houses of culture, palaces of culture, theaters, TV broadcast, radio,
recreation.
INTRODUCTION
Cities in the history of mankind are one of the
most progressive types of settlements,
representing complex and multifaceted
organisms
in
which
socio-demographic,
economic, cultural, ethnic and other processes
interact. With the industrialization of society
and the formation of the urban way of life,
there was a selection and development of
leisure activities sphere, a mass culture was
formed, to which all segments of the urban
population were included by the middle of the
20th century.
The concept of
‘leisure’ should be defined
before proceeding to the presentation of the
urban
population
leisure
problems
in
Karakalpakstan.
Historian, S.Yu. Malysheva mentions about the
origin of the concept notes that the idea of
leisure as a ‘recreation time’, ‘idle time’ is
associated with technological, economic and
cultural changes of the XIX century, which led
to the transition to the industrial epoch.
THE MAIN RESULTS AND FINDINGS
Development of the industries, division and
organization of labor destroyed the monopoly,
distinctive for traditional societies of a
common time-cycle of work and leisure
alternation stimulated the delineation of these
two spheres and contributed to the
emergence of the ‘category of idle time’ that is
most important for modernization discourse
(Malysheva, 2014).
Reflecting further, she came to the conclusion
that: ‘... during the second half of the XIX
-
beginning of the XX century, in parallel with the
process of differentiation of work and rest
spheres in the language, the semantics of
concepts denoting leisure and idleness
gradually
changed...
These
seemingly
insignificant movements at first glance
indicated milestones in the formation of mass
urban leisure as an independent sphere of
activity, where the business activity of various
strata of the population was directed and
where representatives of these strata were
rushing to search for new sensations,
impressions, and knowledge’ (Malysheva,
2014).
Club cultural institutions (houses and palaces
of culture), theaters, cinemas, museums, radio
and television played an important role in the
organization of the population leisure in the
cities. These cultural organizations, carrying
out cultural and educational work among the
population, created conditions for self-
realization, for creative and social activities. In
general, the above-mentioned forms of leisure
formed a special social and information space,
intended both for the physical and spiritual
development of people, as well as for
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ideological and educational work among
various categories of the population. People
became active creators of the culture of that
epoch and carriers of political ‘advanced ideas
and ideals’ by participating in cultural and
educational events of club organizations,
theaters and museums.
In the 1960s, radio became one of the elements
of leisure. The first radio station in
Karakalpakstan appeared in the 1930s, and
initially it had six radio nodes. By 1970, the radio
network
existed
in
all
villages
of
Karakalpakstan. These years a humorous radio
journal was the most popular broadcast among
all radio listeners regardless of age. Particularly
interesting programs were broadcasted on
Saturdays and Sundays. People listened to the
theatrical performances broadcasts with great
interest. Most common broadcast was a very
po
pular musical drama radio show ‘Aigul
-
Abat’
by Zholmurza Aimurzayev staged according to
Abdiraman Utepov's play ‘Tenintapkankyz’.
(Bekmuratova, 1970).
By 1985 more than 96% of the population had
radios. Network of radio broadcasting in the
rural areas developed significantly these years.
Transmissions were conducted in Karakalpak,
Uzbek, Russian and Turkmen languages by this
time (History of the Karakalpak Autonomous
Soviet Socialist Republic, 1986).
Cinema became a typical form of cultural rest
for townspeople. In 1960 there were about 120
film installations in the republic (Karakalpaks,
1962). The number of cinemainstallations
serving for urban and rural spectators
increased from 260 to 300 in 1970-1975, and by
1989 it increased to 413.
The Karakalpak cinematography started to
emerge by the early 1960s. The first picture
‘Fishermen of the Aral Sea’ reflecting
Karakalpak people’s life was created according
to the scenario of Zhapakov N. and Melkumov
M. A newsreel item was opened in Nukus,
(Karakalpaks, 1962).
Nukus branch of Tashkent film studio of
popular science and documentary films was
opened in 1970. In December 1989,
Karakalpakfilm studio was established on the
basis
of
the
Karakalpak
branch
of
‘Uzkinochronica’studio. Films such as ‘Gum
-
gum’, ‘Nepokornaya’, ‘Aral
-
kum’, ‘Year of the
snake’were introducedto public by the end of
the 1980s in the history of the Karakalpak
cinema art.
Karakalpak national television emerged in
1964. The construction of Nukus television
center was completed in 1967, and by the next
year a mobile television station was built.
Starting from 1971 Moscow and Uzbek
television programs were broadcasted. In
1976-
1980 so called ‘radio and television days of
the regions’broadcasts came into life and were
firmly established in the practice of everyday
television and radio programs. Thematic TV
and radio programs began to cover not only
agriculture, industry, construction and other
branches of material production, but also the
spiritual sphere such as culture, science,
literature, art and public education. By 1985
more than 96% of the population of
Karakalpakstan had TV sets.
Theatre performances and concerts became
the increasingly widespread forms of cultural
leisure.The Karakalpak State Theaterthat was
formed in 1930 (since 1937 named as
‘Karakalpak State Theater named after
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
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The American Journal of Social Science and Education Innovations
(ISSN
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2021:
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Stanislavsky’), from the very beginning of its
existence performed not only in Nukus, the
capital of the republic, but also went on tour to
the regional theaters and collective farms, as
well as to the most remote corners of the
republic to the Aral Sea fishermen, livestock
breeders of Kyzylkum and Ustyurt. They staged
not only Karakalpak dramatists’plays, but also
other plays by Gogol, Ostrovsky and
Vishnevsky
translated
into
Karakalpak
language.
There were 194 art amateur talent groups in
the republic in 1961. They were attended by
about 5,000 art lovers such as collective
farmers, workers, students, employees, and
others. These clubs performed with concerts
and productions, and served as one of the main
bases for the theater personnel training. The
Republican House of Folk Art and two popular
theaters rendered great assistance to the
amateur groups (Karakalpaks, 1962).
There were eight folk theaters and ensembles
and more than 900 amateur art groups
functioning in Karakalpakstan by the 1970s and
1980s.
Theater performances were getting popular
over time. There were many plays by local
authors devoted to modernity. The musical
comedy ‘Taluas’ by Khodzhaniyazov S.,
‘Zhaylaudatoi’ (Wedding in the pasture) by N.
Eshmatov and R. Eshimbetov and others were
very popular (Bekmuratova, 1970).
The creation of the Theater of the young
spectator
(TYuZ)
named
after
S.
Khodzhaniyazov was an important event in the
theatrical life of Karakalpakstan in 1978. The
theater of the young spectator performed the
plays based on
the works of Y. Mahmudov ‘The
Naked King’, I. Yuzeyev ‘The Joke, fraught with
misfortune’, Rakhmanov K. ‘Belated Spring’, T.
Seytzhanova
‘The
Nukus
Legend’,
M.
Yakhyaeva ‘Regret’ at the appropriate level.
During this period there was an aspiration to
express national identity and propaganda of
the national culture of the republic: in 1984
there were Culture Days of Karakalpakstan in
Dagestan, and in 1985 several contests were
held:
bakhsy-zhyrau,
family
ensembles.
Creative collectives such as State Philharmonic
vocal and choreographic ensemble ‘Kyrykkyz’,
State Song and Dance Ensemble ‘Aikulash’ and
the ensemble ‘Amu Tolkyny’ successfully
toured in many cities of Siberia, Far East,
Krasnoyarsk Territory, and Uzbekistan (CSA
RK. F.173, inventory 3/1, file 46).
The number of cultural and educational
institutions increased every year: in 1961 there
were 227 institutions, in 1964 - 237, and in 1965
- 248. In 1961 there were 283 mass libraries, and
in 1965 the number increased to 317 (A Brief
Statistical Compilation, 1966). In 1969 there
were 489 clubs in the republic, and made a
growth of 34 clubs over three years. They
conducted a large cultural and mass, political
educational work among the republic
population. Organization of evenings and
entertaining events were the most active
directions for club establishments. The evening
programs included performances, concerts,
talks, lectures, quizzes, games and dancing.
Accordingly, there were4,482 events held,
such
asthematic
evenings,
debates,
conferences, oral journals including evenings
on ‘Dear Fathers’, ‘The Most Human Man’, ‘The
Lenin’s Course into the bright future’and
attracted 162,500 listeners.
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 05-2021
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There were 4,136 lectures and reports held
with an audience of 34,600 people. In
particular, there were 1,360 lectures and
reports conducted on social and political topics
covering 106,800 people, 1,530 reports on
industrial and agricultural topics with the
outreach of 151,000 people.
The clubs faced significant problems during the
entire period studied. Shortage of qualified
employees was only one part of overall
complex problems. The other problems listed
premises, technical equipment and material
base of the clubs: shortage of musical
instruments, paints, plywood, paper, tables,
chairs and cultivators (CSA RK, Fund 173,
Inventory 1, File281).
Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the
houses and palaces of culture acted not only as
social translators of cultural codes, moral-
ethical norms and social rules, but also as the
development regulators for the socio-cultural
life in certain regions of the country.
The
organization
of
leisure
for
the
Karakalpakstan population as one of the most
important
directions
of
cultural
and
educational work occurred to be the part of
the social order for cultural institutions in 1960-
1980. The fulfillment of the abovementioned
tasks was particularly significant during the
years of Khrushchev's ‘thaw’ (1953
-1964),
when the state first drew attention to acute
social problems of people and their
unsatisfactory financial situation, low level of
access to cultural goods, weak and poor art
services in remote areas of the country.
The conditions for organizing the population’s
leisure changed qualitatively in the 1960s due
to internal changes in the country. During this
period the socio-economic development of the
country allowed to restore and expand the
network of cultural institutions (houses and
palaces of culture). In addition, an important
factor that brought some progress in this area
was the decision of the Twentieth Congress of
the CPSU about the general reduction of the
working day and the working week (Gunzburg,
1966). The average fixed working day in the
USSR for adult industry workers changed from
7.96 hours in 1956 to 6.93 hours in 1961
(National Economy of the USSR, 1962). As it
was noted at the session of the Supreme Soviet
of the USSR in May 1960, ‘a characteristic
feature of the transition to a shorter working
day in our country is that the worker wins not
only because he works an hour less and his
wage does not decrease, but, ingeneralit
increases’(Materials of the fifth session of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1960).
Thus, during the period studied the time for
rest of Soviet citizens was legislatively
increased for 1 hour, and the preservation of
the old salary and its general increase
motivated citizens to expand their leisure
activities. This circumstance intensified the
process of organizing leisure and its cultural
space both in Karakalpakstan and other
particular republics.
A certain work was carried out in the republic
to prepare the organization of a mass
recreation of workers.
The resolution of the Central Committee of the
CPSU ‘On measures to improve the use of club
and sports facilities’ noted that ‘the culture and
recreation parks play an important role in the
organization of the productive leisure for
workers and other segments of the population.
They are used to conduct days of recreation for
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enterprises' collectives, to organize popular
public
holidays
and
festivals,
sports
competitions and performances of brass
bands. However, parks did not fully meet the
needs of the population either in culture or in
rest. The Central Committee of the party had
emphasized the need to increase the
exactingness to the leading employees for the
organization of meaningful leisure for people.
The work effectiveness of club institutions and
sports facilities should manifest itself in the
upbringing of a person with high ideological
conviction, communist morality, ready for high-
performance work and for the Motherland
defense’ (Party atten
tion to party institutions,
sports facilities, 1985).
The resolution of the Council of Ministers of
the Karakalpak SSR as of April 19, 1977, No. 137
‘On the summer recreation of children in 1977’
was adopted. A special commission was set up
in the city of Nukus in order to improve the
organization of summer holidays for workers.
The Commission developed a plan and
measures for the improvement of recreation
areas. There are two parks of culture and
recreation ‘Leninist Komsomol’ and ‘30th
anniversary
of
Vict
ory’,
two
ponds:
‘Komsomolskoye Lake’ and ‘Grachevaya
Grove’ in the city. Beach layout was made on
‘Komsomolskoye
Lake’
and
‘GrachevayaRoshcha’ ponds. Two dredgers
have been operating for these purposes since
last summer. There are also locker rooms,
canopies and pavilions. A boat station was built
on Komsomolskoye Lake. Gorbytkombinat
purchased boats for organizing the rental
services for the population. Most landscaping
works such as irrigation ditches and territory
cleaning, additional planting of trees and
flower beds have been completed in the parks
of the city(CSA RK, F. № 177. Inv. 3, f. 49).
The Aral Sea was the main recreational and
mass recreation place for workers in the
Autonomous Republic.For eight kilometers
along the shore of the Aral Sea there were
located a beach for the urban population of
Muynak, a republican pioneer camp ‘Rakhat’ of
the Ministry of Education of the Uzbek SSR,
where 1200 children annually recreated, the
pioneer camp Orlyonok of the Muynak fish
cannery, the fish farm of the Uzbek SSR, where
450 children relaxed each year and the Sputnik
pioneer camp of the Central Asia-Center gas
pipeline management, where 480 children
rested annually. Rest House ‘Aral Seashore’ of
the Uzbek Residency for the management of
health resorts of trade unions, sanatorium
‘Muynak’ of the 4thmain department of the
Ministry of Health of the Uzbek SSR, recreation
center for railway workers of the Central Asian
Railway (CSA RK, F. № 177. Inv. 3, F.49).
The cultural leisure time of the citizens during
Soviet times was quite diverse and included
visits to the museums and to the main city
centers which existed in large cities and
regional centers of the republic. The state laid
great store on the creation of museums that
were the custodians of historical memory. With
the aim to promote the historical past and
restore
cultural
heritage
among
the
population, there were initiatedsuch actions as
lectures and conversations on ‘Our Land 1000
Years Ago’ and ‘Our Region’, there were
prepared programs about ancient cities and
memorable places in Karakalpakstan including
‘Mizdahkan’,
‘Toprakkala’,‘Big
Guldursun’,‘Karakum Ishan’,‘Tas Hospital’,
‘Ishan Kala’, and others (CSA RK. Fund 173,
inventory 3/1, f. 78).
The Museum of Regional Studies of
Karakalpakstan is one of the oldest scientific
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and educational institutions not only in the
lower reaches of the Amu Darya and the Aral
Sea, but throughout Central Asia. It was
established in 1929 in Turtkul, the former
capital of the republic.
The Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art
named after Savitsky is the richest collection of
art of the Karakalpak people. The museum is
considered to be the best in the country, and it
is well known beyond borders. Its collection
includes of items of material culture of ancient
and medieval Khorezm as well as Karakalpak
folk arts and crafts. Department of Fine Arts is
the largest artistic discovery. It represents not
only the national art school of Karakalpakstan,
but also the creations of the picturesque
culture founders of Uzbekistan, who worked in
Central Asia in the early twentieth century. If by
the time of the opening, the museum had only
3,000 exhibits, by the end of the 1980s the
number of exhibits had already exceeded
50,000 (CSA RK. Fund 173, inventory 3/1, file
46).
Thus, it can be seen that cultural institutions,
despite numerous problems with the material
and technical base and staffing, have done a
tremendous job in organizing leisure activities
for citizens using various forms, methods and
means.
Party and state bodies’ directness and
wide
amateur creative work of various population
groups and their participation in the cultural
life
of
the
region
made
significant
contributions to the organization of leisure in
1953-1964.
It is obvious, that culture institutions’ activity in
1960-1980s corresponded production goals of
enterprises and conformed to ‘the aim to
mobilize workers’ attention to fulfilling tasks of
the production enterprise’. The development
of urban infrastructure for industrial services
influenced the nature of leisure, and
"production purposefulness" determined the
forms, methods and means of activity in the
organization of leisure for Soviet citizens.
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2.
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3.
CSA of the RK. - F.173, inventory 3/1, file
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CSA of the RK, Fund 173, inventory 1,
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