Kesklinna lokaalses tekstis määratlemise probleemist: Võšgorodskaja (Suure) tänava kui Narva peatänava funktsioonid ja maine 1920. aastatel

• Authors: Burdakova Olga , Nõmm Jelena

Title variants

EN

The issue of identifying a city centre in a local text: functions and images of Vyshgorodskaya Street as the main street of Narva in the 1920s

• Languages of publication: ET

Abstracts

EN

The article is the second in the series of articles devoted to the historical reconstruction of perceptions about the city centre in the local text of Narva in Russian-language printed media of the 1920s. Although printed media of the 1920s referred to the city centre as neither a particular point nor a line on a city map but as a large district, much of which coincided with the boundaries of the Südalinn administrative area, one street (Vyshgorodskaya st.) within this district was unequivocally regarded as the main one. Following the approach proposed in the first article of the series (Burdakova & Nõmm 2025), the second article attempts to answer the question of what functions Narva’s residents in the 1920s attributed to the city centre by analysing and defining objects and events held on Vyshgorodskaya street as they were mentioned in Russian-language newspaper texts of the 1920s. During those years, Vyshgorodskaya street was known for many various offices and businesses located there (over 140 in 32 buildings), which offered a wide range of services: cultural-educational, entertainment-related, financial, commercial, household, medical, legal, consular, informational, and more. It served as the city’s ceremonial thoroughfare, being a place for both religious and secular cultural events: Orthodox processions on church holidays and parades of participants in city festive events on the Independence Day of the Republic of Estonia (24 February), the Day of the Disabled (the day of collection of donations to the General Laidoner Disabled Fund), National Firemen’s Day, the days of school holidays to celebrate the end of the school year, etc., were held there. In printed media, the street acquires presentational, recreational, and socio-communicative functions in city life (a venue for bridal viewings, meetings, and the exchange of local news), and it is also regarded as an object of social scrutiny (journalists and residents closely monitored the state of its buildings, pavements, lighting and public conduct of city residents on Vyshgorodskaya street).

Keywords

EN

concept of city center; place reputation; urban anthropology; local text; Narva periodicals; Narva history

• Publisher: Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum, Estonian Institute of Folklore, EKM Teaduskirjastus
• Journal: Mäetagused
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 92
• Pages: 57-88

Contributors

author

Burdakova Olga

• Narva College of the University of Tartu, Raekoja Square 2, 20307 Narva, Estonia

author

Nõmm Jelena