«Ceremonial» portrait of a student of the state labor reserves system (1940s–1950s)

Introduction . The creation of the USSR state labor reserves in 1940 was accompanied by the formation of a specific socio-cultural environment, which has remained practically unstudied up to the present time. Purpose setting . The aim of the study is to identify the stable, integral images of students, which form the basis of their «ceremonial portrait», set by the official state ideology and the practice of functioning of the system of state labor reserves, as a set of characteristic features of behavior and actions, as well as mental attitudes of this social group. Methodology and methods of the study . The methodological basis of the study was the concepts of historical imagology, structural-semiotic direction of the theory of reception. The work used a synthesis of macro- and micro-approaches of historical research, aimed at the reconstruction of holistic images of students on the basis of methods of content analysis of various sources: official legal and regulatory documents, newspaper publications, fiction and Soviet posters. Results . 1) the identification of four stable, integral images of students of the state labor reserves system, which were based on behavioral practices and mental representations that make up their «ceremonial portrait»; 2) the «ceremonialness» is represented by ideal images that are not achievable by an ordinary person with their interests, life conditions, needs; 3) despite the formation of a specific sociocultural environment and isolation of the student working youth, the selected images of «ceremonialness» were typical and did not differ from the majority of social groups in Soviet society. Conclusion . The results of the study represent the reconstruction of holistic images of students and can be used in the study of everyday life and sociocultural portrait of students in the Soviet period.