Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2021 number

As a basic component of natural and cultural heritage, landscape belongs to interdisciplinary categories that fall within the research field of ethnography, ethnology, cultural ecology, humanitarian geography, environmental anthropology and other disciplines. Actualizing landscape problems is currently due to the fast transformation of modern cultural landscapes caused by global changes in the world economy related to the accelerated development of agriculture and forestry, industrial and mining production. The study objective is a historiographic review and comparison of domestic and foreign literature devoted to the problems of landscape studies, with special attention to the issues of historical dynamics and structure of rural cultural landscapes in Siberian regional studies. The earliest views about the cultural landscape in Russian anthropogeography were characterized by the influence of the ideas of geographic determinism. On the contrary, English-language research was initially focused on studying the cultural landscape material components. These differences, to a certain extent, continue to persist up to the present time. The specificity of the modern rethinking of the concept is associated with its symbolization. The landscape components endowed with historical senses and symbolic meanings serve as an expression of cultural memory and local identity of the population. Positive identity promotes the manifestation of ecological forms of behavior and increases the opportunities for sustainable development. In general, the idea of the landscape as a kind of «physical capacity filled with natural resources that must be extracted and used optimally» is being replaced by a new paradigm, according to which an integral part of the process of mastering and transforming the environment is to endow it with spiritual and symbolic properties.

The authors consider the chances of service “foreigners” who found themselves in Siberian exile after the end of the Time of Troubles. The article concentrates on the characteristics of the Siberian reality perception by this sociocultural community. The authors prove that the social adaptation and integration of the Polish nobleman P. Khmelevsky, the French nobleman S. Franzuzhenin, “Litvin” A. Bernadsky into the new habitat was a complex and distressing process. The reason was that this group differed from the general population in such parameters as the cultural code, religious beliefs and attitudes towards tsar’ administration. These persons were symbolic figures of this ambiguous, but really existing process. “Westerners” P. Khmelevsky and S. Frantsuzhenin neglected the political Siberian order, norms and rules of social behavior. This often led to conflict situations with the provincial authorities and the Orthodox priests. As a result, representatives of this group lost the new privileged status of a service man that they had acquired and correspondingly secure social position. Khmelevsky arrived at Tobolsk as an exiled “foreigner” and made a lot of efforts for his integration into the Russian society hierarchical system, achieving the considerable success. Thanks to his literacy, business qualities, military and managerial skills, he and other foreigners were soon awarded the highest category of service men, boyar sons. On the contrary, Bernadsky’s case demonstrated that there was a different type of behavior among this group. Bernadsky filed more than one petition in the name of the tsar, surrounded by non-peaceful peoples. He complained about his difficult situation and asked for the sovereign favor. In contrast to the aforementioned “foreigners” Khlynovsky and Frantsuzhenin, A. Bernadsky followed the principles operating in the Siberian community, and became “our own” as opposed to the “alien”. He did not change his confessional affiliation and attitude towards the voevodship, but as well adopted a tolerant attitude towards aboriginal ethnic groups. Such people assimilated the social order in Siberia. They followed the government guidelines and were loyal to the authorities. Such social habitat facilitated the successful identification and joining the Russian social-hierarchical system.

The territory of the Vilyui District, previously covering the Lena-Tunguska River interfluve, was one of the major areas of Tungus traditional settling. A compact residence area of the Evenks in this region was the Tyung River basin, a place of nomadism of the Ugulyat Evenk family, where the modern territory of the Yugyulat (transcription in Russian by V. F.) nasleg of the Vilyui Ulus (District) is located. The Evenks of this local group underwent a process of yakutization in the Soviet years, due to the state support of ethno-cultural assimilation and related to the total dominance of Yakut population in the Vilyui District. Belonging of the population of the studied nasleg to the Evenk ethnic group since the early XX century is reflected in its name - Yugyulyat. However, the yakutized Tungus population of Yugyulat Nasleg was recorded in the Soviet period censuses as Yakuts, becouse they pointed Yakutian as native language since the XIX century. Accordingly, due to the predominance of the Yakut population, this municipality was not included in the Lists of places and areas of collective residence adopted in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. For the first time, the article analyzes in detail the demographic, economic and ethno-cultural development of the Evenk Ugulyat family, whose representatives currently live in the territory of Yugyulat Nasleg of the Vilyui Ulus based on a wide range of sources. The research allows to conclude that the majority of the inhabitants of the studied nasleg are descendants of the Ugulyat Evenks, and the original inhabitants of this area, who have preserved their ethnic identity, main types of traditional economic activities and certain elements of traditional spiritual culture. Based on conclusions, the author proposes to include the Yugulat Nasleg in the Russian «List of places of traditional residence and traditional economic activity of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation and the List of traditional economic activities of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation».

A wedding ceremony of “extinguishing barn fire” completing the wedding celebration was recorded during the ethnographic expedition of 2018-2019 in Pritomie (Mariinsk, Chebulin and Tyazhin districts). The article objective is to describe this rite that existed in the second half of the XX century and was characterized by great variability. The main research source are stories of villagers about the wedding traditions of the second half of the XX century. The author uses techniques of interviewing, photo, audio and video recording of field materials, as well as a descriptive method. One of the variants of the “extinguishing barn (ovin) fire” ritual (“ovin” could contain hay, straw, etc.) involves a married couple and wedding guests jumping over the fire. Sometimes the ritual included checking the household skills of a newlywed: she was sweeping up litter. In addition, the “ovin” could be set on fire in a cart and carried around the village. The ritual of “extinguishing barn (ovin) fire” was played out in many cases as a comic bath where the newlyweds and wedding guests were “taking a steam bath”. Sometimes, the guests who extinguished the “barn” (ovin) fire smeared soot on their faces from the fire. The process of smearing could turn into mummers’ walking around the village. This ritual was not typical only of Pritomie. It was common for the Middle Povolzhie, Ter’, Rostov Regions, etc. The variants of “extinguishing barn (ovin) fire” ritual described in the publications do not contain any mention of the combined actions recorded such as smearing faces with soot, walking mummers, and a comic bath. The collected ethnographic material does not make it possible to trace belonging of each variant of the “ extinguishing barn (ovin) fire” ritual to a specific ethnocultural group. On the author’s view, the reason for such variability of the ceremony in Pritomie could be the population’s ethnocultural diversity (old-timers of Siberia - chaldons, yasaks, Russian immigrants, Ukrainian and Belarusian immigrants), whose wedding traditions were complementary as a result of mixed marriages.

The article is devoted to identifying and characterizing the complex of Buryat popular views on the fox. The research is based on a variety of sources including written (ethnographic, folklore, linguistic) ones, as well as field materials. The main research tool is the structural-semiotic method, which involves establishing the fox symbolism. The study allows stating that the fox had a feminine origin in the traditional views of Buryats. Besides, this wild animal was endowed with producing symbols. It was associated with the fire element. The fox was associated with various celestial phenomena, and carried solar symbols. However, the fox image is dominated by the chthonic nature, which, in particular, is expressed in the idea of the fox as guides to the other world. This is due to its incorporation into shamanic rites as a spirit helper and black Shaman’s attribute. The study shows that a part of the pre-Baikal Buryats had the fox veneration in the past. It is found that some traditional Buryat judgments about the fox have parallels in the worldview of other peoples.

The most difficult barrier among many barriers generated by globalization to overcome is the ethno-cultural one from the integration view point. It is rooted in linguistic, religious factors, the collective memory features and overcoming collective trauma both in Russia and Europe. Globalization makes national borders permeable by moving large groups of people. The identity crisis caused by migration creates a certain tension in the society. How relevant is the concept of a nation as citizenship formed in the XX century for the XXI century and new realities? This problem is acute for the host communities in Russia and the United States, European Union countries, where there are high standards of the life quality and social security. France is a country with a high level of migratory population growth. The attitude to the colonial past of France, as well as to the process of the entry of certain national outskirts into the Russian Empire/USSR, continues to remain ambiguous, inter alia due to the deep roots in the memory of living generations of the local war consequences of the XX century. The ultimate form of memory representation is the museum space. The article examines the experience of educational and scientific activities of the National museum of the history of immigration in Paris as an element of a creative strategy to integrate and adapt immigrants into the French society. The author gives the analysis of its activity practices with visitors on-line and off-line, the specifics of organizing a creative museum space, and interaction with civil society, using historical and cultural heritage to achieve project goals. The study was carried out using the methods of participatory observation and analysis of social networks of the Palais de Port-Dore, where the museum’s permanent and temporary exhibitions are located. The research work was carried out in the first half of 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic onset, during the implementation of limited measures and just after the self-isolation regime withdrawal. The conclusion is drawn about the applicability of this experience in relation to the museum industry of Siberia as a region of the Russian Federation with a rich and diverse historical and cultural heritage.

The article objective is to study the practice of appointing the chief of the Gendarme District in Siberia throughout the history of its existence. The author solves the following tasks: 1) to determine all the chiefs of the Gendarme District in Siberia; 2) to establish reasons and circumstances of choosing certain candidates for the post of Gendarme District chief; 3) to identify the mechanism of appointment and approval for the specified position; 4) to determine the position place of the Gendarme District chief in the service career of persons who occupiedit at different time. The main research sources are the materials of the Central Gendarme Department stored in the State Archives of the Russian Federation, as well as orders for the Gendarme Corps. The main research approach is a comparative historical analysis. The author came to several conclusions. As a total, the post of chief of the Gendarme District in Siberia was held by 10 people (average time of their leadership in the district was about 7 years). Over the nearly 70-year existence of the Gendarme District in Siberia, there were qualitative changes in the practice of appointing its chiefs. At first, the choice of candidates for this position was not great due to the recent creation of the Gendarme Corps. Subsequently, the Corps leadership already had lists of candidates, which led to a careful selection among them. The selection of candidates took into account the general length of service, time of service in the gendarmerie system, professional qualities, as well as individual subjective factors. The selected candidate was proposed to the monarch for approval followed by an order from the Gendarme Corps to appoint the district chief. The post of the chief of the Gendarme District in Siberia was prestigious in the gendarme service as evidenced by responses of those persons, who were suggested to take the gendarme leadership. It was both the peak of their careers, and the last post in the gendarme service for all persons who held the position of the head of the Gendarme District in Siberia.

The article objective is to identify methodological foundations for studying cooperative forms of the socio-economic activity. Since the late 1980s, new and deeper approaches have been formed, and the cooperative theme has been integrated into the context of more general problems of the Russian history - modernization, alternative ways of socio-economic development, and the Russian mentality specifics. The author considers the traditions of defining the essence of cooperation in frames of formation, modernization, and civilizational paradigms. Activating the civilizational approach since the second half of the XIX century has advanced studying socio-cultural factors that contributed to the social capital accumulation and promoted association. Viewed from this perspective, cooperation appears as a «goal-rational» type of a social action, which results in forming social ties between individuals, creating associations and stable social institutions. For the traditional Russian society, where the «value-oriented» type of social action prevailed and the ability to associate was poorly developed, cooperative forms were exo-innovation. Organically fitting into the modernization processes, cooperation with its inherent functions of adaptation and integration contributed to socialization of economy, overcoming the society’s socio-cultural split, accumulating social capital, expanding the sphere of non-state civil activities, becoming the effective factor of the Russian modernization. The prospects for studying cooperation are related to the interpretation of its essence and cooperative experience in the context of ideas about the diffusion of exo-innovations in the modernization course, «actor» approach, «civil society» concept, which allow inscribing the history of the cooperative movement into the complex conditions of modernization process.

The period of Russian protectorate over Tuva was difficult and controversial due to a number of internal and external factors. The article is focused on the analysis of the activity of Russian officials appointed to implement the policy of colonization of Tuva territory through its peaceful and cultural integration into Russia. The study objective is to consider the activity of V.Yu. Grigoriev, the Privy Councilor in Urianghai Krai (1915-1917), and relations of Tuva and Russia at the time under consideration. This objective can be achieved through the solution of the following tasks: to study Russian policy after establishing the protectorate implemented through the Russian representative bodies; to analyze special features of introduction of the volost system in Tuva; to investigate innovations in Tuvan court organization; to show ways of solving land disputes and conflict situations with Tuvan noyons (local feudal lords) by V.Yu. Grigoriev. The research base sources are materials from the State Archives of the Republic of Tyva introduced into scientific discourse for the first time. The author concludes that there was competition and in-coordination between different Russian governmental departments in Tuva. The focus of the Council of Ministers of Russian Empire on the colonization of the region through “cultural instilment” was often at the background. In addition to the mobilization of the local Russian population in Tuva, the Russian authorities sent a cossack unit from Usinsk and Kobdo consular guard. V.Yu. Grigoriev’s attempts to introduce Russian jurisdiction and modify administrative and territorial structure in Tuva remained unsuccessful due to the lack of legislative framework.

The article is devoted to the movement of Russia’s older soldiers in 1917. Men, who had never served in military during a peacetime, were enlisted as warriors (ratniks) of the II category. This category of potential military personnel originally were not supposed to be drafted into the army. However, the crisis in human resources led to the fact that in 1915 government began to mobilize them and send to the front. Last conscriptions took place in the late 1916. Soldiers aged 40-43 (the age limit for conscription) joined the army. By this time, there had already been an acute shortage of workers in the countryside. The conscription only complicated the situation with agricultural work. After the Revolution of 1917, soldiers above the age of 40 were allowed returning home to sow and harvest. However, soon the government demanded them back. The preparation of an offensive at the front led to cancelling leaves of absence. The Government decision provoked dissatisfaction on the part of the older soldiers. Protests started throughout the country. Tens of thousands of men came to Petrograd demanding the order cancellation. The older soldiers believed that there were younger men in the country that were evading the front. They supposed they would be more useful in the rear, where they could help both their family and the country as a whole. Nevertheless, neither the Minister of war, nor the Petrograd Soviets, nor the First Congress of Soviets agreed with the arguments of the 40-year-olds. The protest movement did not subside until the fall of 1917, when soldiers above the age of 40 were demobilized. The movement of 40-year-old soldiers showed that the peasantry quickly adopted new forms of expression of disagreement, which were peaceful in nature. Those people had an opportunity to desert, but tens of thousands of them strove to be heard by the authorities.

The article aims to study the contribution of memoir publications of the 1920s to highlighting the “Bolshevism triumphal march” in Siberia, to forming the source base of the Siberian Sovietization concept. It defines the list of memoir authors, their status and party affiliation during the revolution events. The research shows that in 1917 at least half of the memoirists were members of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks), and among them, there were few prominent professional revolutionaries. The article argues that this fact largely explains the approaches of the memoirists to the description and interpretation of what happened, terminology choice, and language stylistics. The research finds out that the number of memoirs published on the October Revolution 10^th anniversary and reflecting the revolutionary process in Siberia and its Sovietization is nearly 30 works, while neither both capitals, nor the adjacent regions of the Urals and the Far East had comparable numbers. The article studies the reasons for such small number of the memoirs about Siberia Sovietization. It analyzes the memoirs’ general topics and problems, as well as the specific episodes of the political struggle described by memoirists. The article examines how the memoir authors explained the reasons for the ten-day armed conflict in December, 1917 in Irkutsk. Based on the collected data and results of its analysis it establishes that the memoirs of the 1920s created two basic axioms of the Soviet concept of the “Bolshevism triumphal march” in Siberia. On the one hand, it claimed that the Soviets of Workers ‘and Soldiers’ Deputies of some cities and towns seized power long before the October Revolution; on the other hand, they declared that the October Revolution occurred in Siberia around November-December 1917. The article concludes by arguing that the memoirs published in the 1920s fulfilled multiple functions, and, first of all, they were the most important and reliable source of information about the period of the revolution.

This article is the first attempt to study the political biography of Pyotr Zahkarovich Ozernykh (1886-1919), a Siberian poet, journalist, social and public activist. It considers P.Z. Ozernykh’s participation in political processes in February and October Revolutions in 1917, as well as his role in the anti-Bolshevik underground and Soviet regime overthrow on June 19, 1918 based on a wide range of various historical sources. Moreover, the paper analyzes P.Z. Ozernykh’s activity as a member of Yeniseisk governorate commissariat, circumstances of his assignment to the position of Yeniseisk Governorate commissar of the Provisional Siberian Government on August, 1, 1918, characterizes his work holding this position, as well as causes of his dismissal on October, 28, 1918. As the result, it was concluded that P.Z. Ozernykh’s political behavior under the conditions of Revolutions and Civil War was consistent and logical. He was devoted to his ideals and bosom comrades headed by V.M. Krutovsky, a famous Siberian regional activist. It was a foundation for his rapid career. Political enlightener, whose main activity direction in 1917 was to manage a cooperative journal called “Narodnoe Delo”, became an active participant of the anti-Bolshevik underground. Later, due to exceptional insufficiency of political basis for democratic counterrevolution in Yeniseisk governorate, P.Z. Ozernykh became the member of Yeniseisk Governorate Commissariat of the Provisional Siberian Government, then he was assigned the head of the governorate with emergency powers. As the democratic policy government was collapsing, these circumstances predetermined the downfall of his career and life. During the Civil War, P.Z. Ozernykh was a political idealist at an administrative position. This role was not typical, and after a short period of democratic counterrevolution, it became unacceptable for the political counterrevolution system which evolved toward authoritarianism.

The article is based on an ego-document - a personal diary by A.I. Dmitriev, a worker of an aircraft factory in the city of Molotov (Perm), who regularly kept a diary since 1941. He told in detail about his own life, recorded his impressions of what was happening in his family, at the factory, in the country. The study objective is to identify the relationship between cultural patterns and emotional representations in Dmitriev’s diary. K. Girtz’s concept was chosen as a methodological approach. According to K. Girtz’s views, a person’s culture organizes his emotional world and ways to express feelings. A.I. Dmitriev’s diary allows reconstructing the paradoxical reaction of a Soviet man to a military disaster. The theme of Moscow in the diary appeared in August 1941. Detailed entries of February-June, 1942 have been analyzed. In Soviet culture, Moscow was a kind of earthly paradise: a symbol of victorious socialism, a promised land for Soviet citizens: food abundance, miracle machines, cultural people reminiscent of heroes from movies, a source of benefits for all Soviet people in an achievable historical perspective. Pre-war Moscow was a culturally and technologically advanced city for A. Dmitriev. There was a lot of products in the shops. Soviet people lived happily in the city full of food. Analysis of the diary allows studying the work of the Soviet man’s social imagination. The specific historical material shows how the personal experience of the diary’s author is synthesized with the cultural and ideological attitudes of the authorities. The result is a unified, integral image of “ideal socialism” without war. The image of happy days in Moscow was formed by the author of the diary under the influence of the military situation in 1941-1942. A.I. Dmitriev, as well as his fellow citizens of Molotov, felt a constant need for food, clothing and shoes, heating of homes and industrial premises. In contrast to military life, A. Dmitriev described his stay in Moscow as a long holiday, the happiest time of his life. The image of happy days reproduced the mass values of Soviet citizens: leisure, plenty of food and alcohol, carefree life.

The article deals with the population housing quality in three large industrial cities in Siberia: Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk in the late 1980s. The authors have identified four basic criteria to assess the quality of housing: an average living area size, population distribution by types of housing, availability of communal benefits in houses, as well as the distribution of living space according to the material of outer walls. By the late 1980s, the significant progress was made in providing housing for the population in major regional centers of Siberia. The most comfortable type of living space should be called individual apartments, where the amount of living space per a person was higher than in hostels, communal apartments or individual houses. They had a large set of communal benefits. The share of the population living in separate apartments in Krasnoyarsk was higher than in Novosibirsk, or Irkutsk. At the same time, Novosibirsk bypassed other cities in terms of the share of residents of communal apartments. Novosibirsk dormitories were much more comfortable than those in Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. They had both higher average indicators of living space, and were better equipped with communal benefits. The city was the educational and academic center of Siberia, so it needed high-quality dormitories. Moreover, Novosibirsk bypassed other cities in providing housing with communal goods in almost all types of premises. While almost all residents of apartments and dormitories in all three cities were provided with sewer systems, access to central heating, hot water, etc., the share of such residents in Novosibirsk was higher, and a great part of individual homes also had such conveniences. While the majority of individual houses in Krasnoyarsk had electricity at best. The share of houses built of stone or brick in Novosibirsk was higher. They were often more comfortable than houses made of other materials. However, Krasnoyarsk bypasses its western and eastern neighbors in panel houses, which were less comfortable than brick ones, but more comfortable than wooden ones. The authors conclude that, despite some deviations, the level of housing quality was relatively equal in all three cities. In the Siberian regional centers in the late 1980s, it was possible to achieve a level corresponding to the industrial society.

The article is a detailed review of the book by O.N. Shelegina «The Museum World of Siberia in the First Decades of the XXI Century» (2019). The monograph’s relevance is explained by the lack of analogues among domestic studies of museum activities for the period under study. It analyzes the author’s adaptive and synergetic approaches to study the processes of the Siberian museum world transformation in the context of globalization and glocalization; reveals the scientific novelty due to systematizing significant empirical material associated with large-scale research and organizational events, publishing projects, activities of Siberian museums-reserves and open-air museums. The paper states theoretical validity and conceptual integrity of the research; notes the analytics and synthesis of a significant historiographic resource accumulated in the first decades of the XXI century. It concludes about the high scientific value of the monograph under review and its importance in filling gaps in the field of modern museology and museum activity.