Metaphorical Foundations of the Generational Imaginary of Urban Russian Youth

The concept of generation has not lost its relevance for many decades; moreover, in the context of the erosion of traditional social classifications, it has acquired particular significance in the formation of social identities. Generational optics are actively used not only in academic debate, but also in political, media, and marketing. The names assigned to cohorts in public discussion become their name, sometimes a stigma or brand, but are not always recruited and used by individuals themselves to describe their generation. The metaphors used in generational names structure the understanding of a generation, its characteristics and place in the socio-historical process. Of particular interest is young people, who are actively building a picture of the world and defining their own generation. The article focuses on the metaphorical foundations of the generational imaginary of modern Russian youth. Based on the materials of 61 qualitative interviews with urban educated middle-class youth in St. Petersburg, four key metaphorical concepts of generation were identified, one of which is common to all the youth studied, three are cohort-specific. A common one involves the metaphor of “technological change”. Cohort-specific ones, reflecting both the difference in life stages and generational characteristics, are represented by the metaphor of “deceived hopes” among 30-year-olds, the metaphor of “children of the 90s” among 25-year-olds, and the metaphor of “moving forward” among 20-year-olds.

youth, generation, metaphor, generational imaginary, qualitative methods