The author reconstructs the Romantic concept of imagination, drawing attention to its relations with the esoteric tradition, and then presents the significance of the idea of imagination for pedagogical reflection in the period of Romanticism. What is also undertaken is the motif of the continuity of Romantic ideas in the 20th century, with special regard to the 20th century youth counterculture and the relations between the countercultural concept of imagination and the discourse on education.

The hippie subculture has created a large number of its own values, signs, symbols, ideas and folklore elements. The hippie movement in Russia, called sistiema, was a manifestation of mainstream‑rejecting activities comparable to the Western countercultural movements of the 1960s. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the subculture significantly modified itself, but the developed traditions, practices and behaviours are still present among certain youth groups. A contemporary take on the hippie culture was presented by Irina Bogatyreva in her debut novel AutoSTOP (2005). This article attempts to analyse its text from the perspective of a continuation of the hippie culture. It also focuses on the contemporary aspects of putting into practice a “hippie utopia”, considered as an alternative to the culture of consumption.