Gopnik
{{Short description|Russian and Eastern European term for delinquent}}
{{About||people with this surname|Gopnik (surname)}}
{{Expand Russian|topic=cult|otherarticle=Гопники|date=October 2018}}
File:Гопник.jpg building (2016)]]
A gopnik{{Efn|{{langx|ru|гопник|gopnik}}, {{IPA|ru|ˈɡopnʲɪk|pron}}; {{langx|uk|гопник|hopnyk}}; {{langx|be|гопнік|hopnik}}Russian plural гопники (gopniki), also гопота (gopota), and гопари (gopari). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y90yaLFoYoA {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327133433/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y90yaLFoYoA |date=2020-03-27 }}}} is a member of a delinquent subculture in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and in other former Soviet republics—a young man (or a woman, a gopnitsa) of urban working-class background.{{cite news|url= https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/04/10/thugs-rednecks-nationalists-understanding-russias-gopnik-culture-a33852|title= Thugs, Rednecks, Nationalists: Understanding Russia's Gopnik Culture|author= Michele A. Berdy|date= 2014-04-10|publisher= Moscow Times}}
{{cite news|url= https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2014/07/30/an-ode-to-russias-ugly-mean-suburbs-a37840|title= An Ode to Russia's Ugly, Mean Suburbs|author= Anastasiya Fedorova|date= 2014-07-30|publisher= Moscow Times}}
The collective noun is gopota ({{langx|ru|гопота|links=no}}). The subculture of gopota has its roots in working-class communities in the late Russian Empire and gradually emerged underground during the later half of the 20th century in many cities in the Soviet Union.{{cite web|url= http://weirdrussia.com/2014/04/24/slav-squat-russian-disturbing-street-trend/|title= Slav Squat – Russian Disturbing Street Trend|access-date= 2018-11-05|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180828023429/https://weirdrussia.com/2014/04/24/slav-squat-russian-disturbing-street-trend/|archive-date= 2018-08-28|url-status= usurped}}{{cite web|url= http://exiledonline.com/russias-original-gangstas-meet-the-gopniki/|title= Russia's original gangstas: meet the gopniki|date= 22 July 2011|access-date= 5 November 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181111034203/http://exiledonline.com/russias-original-gangstas-meet-the-gopniki/|archive-date= 11 November 2018|url-status= dead}} Even before their heyday in the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the associated rise in poverty, there was a "gopnik" culture in the Soviet Union. Young men from working class areas rebelled against neformaly (non-conformists) and harassed the lovers of Western music, which had become popular in the Soviet Union in the 1980s.{{Cite web |last=RIR |first=specially for |date=2016-03-30 |title=Who are Russia's 'gopniks'? |url=https://www.rbth.com/society/2016/03/30/who-are-russias-gopniks_580301 |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=Russia Beyond |language=en-US}}
Etymology
Folk etymology connects the word to the GOP, the acronym for {{lang|ru| городское общество призора}} Gorodskoye Obshchestvo Prizora (municipal welfare society), an organization to provide shelter for the destitute.{{better source|date=February 2025}}
A more plausible origin is the onomatopoeic [https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BF#Russian гоп] (gop), 'jump', 'leap', cf. the slang terms {{lang|ru|го́пать}}, 'gopat', or {{lang|ru|гоп-стоп}}, 'gop-stop' which means mugging or robbing.{{better source|date=February 2025}}
Stereotypical appearance and behaviour
Gopniks are often seen wearing Adidas tracksuits, which were popularized by the 1980 Moscow Olympics Soviet team.{{cite web|url=http://weirdrussia.com/2015/01/04/why-is-adidas-so-popular-among-russians/|title=Why is Adidas so Popular Among Russians?|date=4 January 2015|access-date=18 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506122902/http://weirdrussia.com/2015/01/04/why-is-adidas-so-popular-among-russians/|archive-date=6 May 2017|url-status=usurped}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/331106-how-to-look-like-russian-gopniks|title = Russian Gopniks: How to look like you belong|date = 9 October 2019}} While sunflower seeds (colloquially {{transl|ru|semki}} [семки] or {{transl|ru|semechki}} [семечки]) are a common snack in Ukraine and Russia, chewing ("cracking") them in public and spitting out the shells on the ground is characteristic of gopniks.
A stereotypical image of a gopnik is one of being conservative, aggressive, homophobic, nationalist and racist,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/may/28/russia-suburbs-creative-hotspots-photography-art-fashion|title=Russia's suburbs lack charm ... which may be why they're creative hotspots|author=Anastasiia Fedorova|date=2014-05-28|publisher=Guardian|access-date=2019-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115055721/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/may/28/russia-suburbs-creative-hotspots-photography-art-fashion|archive-date=2020-01-15|url-status=live}} as well as holding strong anti-Western views. Gopniks are also stereotyped as being prone to substance and alcohol abuse, crime and hooliganism.Ханипов Р. «Гопники» – значение понятия, и элементы репрезентации субкультуры «гопников» в России // "Social Identities in Transforming Societies"
It is claimed that the originators of the hardbass style of music initially intended it as a parody on the behavior of gopniks.{{Cite web|last=Yegorov|first=Oleg|date=2017-12-22|title=Russian hard bass: How a musical monstrosity went viral|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/327108-russian-hard-bass-how-it-went-viral|access-date=2020-10-22|website=www.rbth.com|language=en-US}}
=Squatting=
Gopniks are often seen squatting (Russian slang terms for the position are "на кортах", na kortakh, a truncation of "na kortochkakh", Russian for "squatting") or "doing the crab" ("на крабе", na krabe)).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ta4EAQAAIAAJ&q=gopnik+-adam+-alison+russia|title=Trans-national issues, local concerns and meanings of post-socialism: insights from Russia, Central Eastern Europe, and beyond|first1=Moya|last1=Flynn|first2=Rebecca|last2=Kay|first3=Jonathan D.|last3=Oldfield|date=1 June 2008|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0761840558|via=Google Books|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212033143/https://books.google.ie/books?id=ta4EAQAAIAAJ&q=gopnik+-adam+-alison+russia&dq=gopnik+-adam+-alison+russia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQzZHGw4LYAhWMBcAKHSbaCUo4ChDoAQguMAE|archive-date=12 December 2017|url-status=dead}} It is described as a learned behavior, attributed to Russian and Soviet prison culture to avoid sitting on the cold ground. This habit of squatting, known as "słowiański przykuc" is a new stereotype of Russians in Poland, along with being drunk and speaking in mat.[https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/swiat/1923696,1,w-swiecie-kucajacych-slowian.read W świecie kucających Słowian], September 14, 2019 The "Slavic squat" or "Slav squat" was also popularized in the West in early 2010s.[https://thestrand.ca/the-slavic-squat-phenomenon/ The Slavic Squat Phenomenon]Kiril Tsanov, [https://www.mirasafety.com/blogs/news/the-history-of-the-slav-squat?srsltid=AfmBOooM-PQvV_G-jaKsjCmO0rs-9kAMbEHzv9LvNxFgnjZWQKfeTaGK The history of the Slav squat][https://www.economist.com/1843/2019/09/10/how-the-slav-squat-became-an-internet-sensation How the “Slav squat” became an internet sensation], The Economist, September 10, 2019
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
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External links
- {{Commons category inline|Gopnik}}
Category:Social class in Russia
Category:Culture of the Soviet Union
Category:Stereotypes of suburban people
Category:Stereotypes of the working class
Category:Working class in Europe
Category:Socioeconomic stereotypes
Category:Counterculture of the 1980s