Reconstructing the House of Culture: Community, Self, and the Makings of Culture in Russia and Beyond

Published by Berghahn Books 2011

Reconstructing the House of Culture

Community, Self, and the Makings of Culture in Russia and Beyond

Edited by: Brian Donahoe and Joachim Otto Habeck

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857452764

Overview
Contents

About this book

Notions of culture, rituals and their meanings, the workings of ideology in everyday life, public representations of tradition and ethnicity, and the social consequences of economic transition— these are critical issues in the social anthropology of Russia and other postsocialist countries. Engaged in the negotiation of all these is the House of Culture, which was the key institution for cultural activities and implementation of state cultural policies in all socialist states. The House of Culture was officially responsible for cultural enlightenment, moral edification, and personal cultivation—in short, for implementing the socialist state’s program of “bringing culture to the masses.” Surprisingly, little is known about its past and present condition. This collection of ethnographically rich accounts examines the social significance and everyday performance of Houses of Culture and how they have changed in recent decades. In the years immediately following the end of the Soviet Union, they underwent a deep economic and symbolic crisis, and many closed. Recently, however, there have been signs of a revitalization of the Houses of Culture and a re-orientation of their missions and programs. The contributions to this volume investigate the changing functions and meanings of these vital institutions for the communities that they serve.

Author / Editor information

Brian Donahoe is an independent researcher living in Kyzyl, Republic of Tyva. From 2004–2010 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. His research interests include the interaction between the Russian legal system and Russia’s indigenous peoples, and the dynamics of constructing, maintaining, and performing ethnic identity and indigeneity through the idioms of “culture and tradition.”

Joachim Otto Habeck is coordinator of the Siberian Studies Centre at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. He is currently investigating cultural and ethno-cultural events and organizations, popular notions of culture, and gendered spaces of work and leisure. He examines lifestyle concepts as well as how rural and urban inhabitants of Siberia see themselves and want to be seen by others.

Brian Donahoe is an independent researcher living in Kyzyl, Republic of Tyva. From 2004–2010 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. His research interests include the interaction between the Russian legal system and Russia’s indigenous peoples, and the dynamics of constructing, maintaining, and performing ethnic identity and indigeneity through the idioms of “culture and tradition.”

Reviews

“The result is an edited volume of unusual internal cohesion, which at the same time avoids repetition and uniformity…In addition to presenting a multifaceted discussion of an understudied institution, the research team members also lay out their methodology in a set of appendices. The description of the research design and lists of interview and survey questions make the book a valuable resource for courses on social research methods.” · Social Analysis

“This text fills a gap in the market regarding eh social and emotional significance of public leisure institutions in Siberia and elsewhere. Its chapters clarify issues of change and continuity in the Siberia, House of Culture paradigm, as well as explaining the international reach and resilience of these institutions.” · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

“This book has a clear immediate aim that has not been covered in the anthropology of Russia—to describe and analyse the ‘House of Culture,’ a prominent institution in every Soviet town and village…[It] is a very interesting, ambitious, worthwhile and readable book.” · Caroline Humphrey, University of Cambridge

“This is a fascinating and very original book which explores cultures and cultural production in the postsocialist world. Basing their fieldwork in houses of culture (arts centres) allowed the contributors unique opportunities for understanding the recent evolution of local communities across Siberia and beyond.” · Anne White, University of Bath

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Editors’ Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
A Note on Transliteration Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction. Cultivation, Collective, and the Self Joachim Otto Habeck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. The Siberian House of Culture in Comparative Perspective
1. From Collective Enthusiasm to Individual Self-Realization: History of and Experience in the House of Culture, Anadyr’ (Chukotka) Virginie Vaté and Galina Diatchkova Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
2. “Thank You for Being”: Neighborhood, Ethno-Culture, and Social Recognition in the House of Culture Joachim Otto Habeck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
3. Pokazukha in the House of Culture: The Pattern of Behavior in Kurumkan, Eastern Buriatiia István Sántha and Tatiana Safonova Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
4. Three Houses of Culture in Kosh-Agach: Accounting for Culture Work in a Changing Political Setting Agnieszka Halemba Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
5. In the Face of Adversity: Shagonar’s Culture Workers Bear the Torch of Culture Brian Donahoe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
6. Constellations of Culture Work in Present-Day Siberia Joachim Otto Habeck, Brian Donahoe and Siegfried Gruber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Part II. Expanding the Stage: The House of Culture in Broader Historical and Geographical Context
7. The Emergence of Soviet Houses of Culture in Kyrgyzstan Ali F. İğmen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
8. Palana’s House of Koryak Culture Alexander D. King Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
9. Transformations of the House of Culture in Civil Society: A Case Study of Rural Women’s Culture Projects in Latvia Aivita Putniņa Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
10. Heritage House Guarding as Sustainable Development: Community Arts and Architectures within a World Cultural Net(work) Nadezhda D. Savova Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Epilogue. Recognizing Soviet Culture Bruce Grant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Appendix 1. Research Design and Methodology of the Comparative Research Project “The Social Significance of the House of Culture” Brian Donahoe, Joachim Otto Habeck, Agnieszka Halemba, Kirill Istomin, István Sántha and Virginie Vaté Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Appendix 2. Survey Form and Instructions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Appendix 3. Questionnaire 1 (Q1) and Instructions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Appendix 4. Questionnaire 2 (Q2) and Instructions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
Appendix 5. Fieldwork Checklist Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	319
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 348
Keywords: Anthropology (General); Sociology; Cultural Studies (General)

eBook

Published: November 1, 2011
ISBN: 9780857452764