We take a look at the most important counterculture icons during the Soviet era and their influence in our world – with a more recent addition too!
What is counterculture?
By and large, it's a culture within a society whose values, thoughts and beliefs are vastly different to the mainstream views, or the dogma expounded by an incumbent government. Many people align it to a movement of protest, and have used counterculture momentum to result in sweeping change in a country or region.
Some of the most famous movements include the Romantic period in Europe during the early 1800s, that championed the past, individualism and emotion through art, literature and music. More recently, the Beat Generation post World War Two explored American culture, Eastern religion and spirituality, while rejecting materialism.
Russian counterculture icons
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
A novelist and critic of the Soviet Union, he was perhaps the most famous Russian counterculture icons. One of his most celebrated novels, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, is still read in high schools and universities around the world today.
Poyuschie Gitary (Singing Guitars)
One of the Soviet Union's first rock bands, they became hugely popular across Eastern Europe during hte 1960s and were known as Russia's answer to The Beatles.
Anatoly Rybakov
Best known for his anti-Stalinist trilogy Children of the Arbat, he was a renowned children's author.
Vladimir Vysotsky
An actor and singer-songwriter, he wrote over 700 songs and helped to promote individual freedom among Russia's youth who lived in fear under the Soviet dictatorship.
Aleksei Kozlov
One of the first Soviet-era jazz pioneers during the 1960s, Kozlov was part of a group of creative intelligentsia who called themselves the 'second culture', ignoring all official cultural regulations at the time.
Boris Grebenshikov & Aquarium
Often referred to as the 'Granfather of Russian Rock', Grebenshikov co-founded the hugely influential and unique rock band Aquarium, popular during the 1970s and 80s.
Bone Music
When Western records such as the Andrews Sisters' Boogie Woogie Bugle Bay and Bill Haley & His Comets' Rock Around the Clock were banned, the Russian youth defied the regime by creating bootleg recordings pressed onto old x-rays – hence the name Bone Music
Stilyagi
The Russian subculture of hipsters (literally translated as style hunters) during the 1950s to '60s who embraced jazz music and the rock'n'roll lifestyle of Hollywood. Glen Miller's song Chattanooga Choo Choo became somewhat of their unofficial anthem.
And more recently...
Pussy Riot
Feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot have been making the headlines for their songs protesting against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Some of their most recent songs speak out against issues such as the Russian prison system, corruption in the government and the treatment of refugees.