Vol 45, No 2 (2023)
Articles
7-7
RUSSIAN HISTORY
LITTLE-KNOWN FINNISH CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY OF KARELIA
Abstract
The article addresses issues related to the maintenance of prisoners in labor camps in the territory of theKarelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic occupied by the Finns in 1941-1944 using the example of labor camps in theMedvezhyegorsk region. The relevance of the study is due to the special importance of preserving historical memoryabout the genocide of the Nazis and their allies in the occupied USSR territory during the Great Patriotic War for mo-dern society. Based on the memoirs and protocols of interrogation of prisoners, numerous aspects of the detention ofcivilians in those Finnish concentration camps are studied, which until recently have been overlooked by researchersfor various reasons. The novelty of the article is determined by the introduction into scientific circulation of extensivearchival materials used for studying the nature of the work performed by prisoners, the facts of the Finnish invaders’ war crimes against prisoners, the completely fictitious quarantine measures of the occupation regime in the camps, and the reasons for sending the prisoners to places of detention.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):8-15
8-15
AD FONTES: PROBLEMS OF STUDYING PETROZAVODSK’S TWINNING TIES WITH FINNISH CITIES
Abstract
The article offers a brief overview of the history of the twinning movement and raises questions aboutthe extent to which the twinning ties between the municipalities of the Republic of Karelia and Finland are studied. Particular attention is paid to the gaps in the study of Petrozavodsk’s relations with its Finnish twin cities Varkaus andJoensuu. The authors come to the conclusion that the history of Karelian-Finnish twinning ties is still understudied andoffer a review of the source base, primarily documents available in archives of the Republic of Karelia. Thus, the aim of the article is to guide potential researchers of cross-border cooperation history in Karelia and Finland. In the current international context, such studies are highly relevant and important.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):16-25
16-25
LEFT-WING DEPUTIES OF THE II STATE DUMA FROM KOSTROMA AND YAROSLAVL PROVINCES
Abstract
The article deals with the influence of the left-wing sentiments among the electorate of the Kostroma andYaroslavl provinces on the election campaign and the activities of the deputies of the State Duma of the second convo-cation. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to study the eventful history of the State Duma with itsextensive experience and traditions for better understanding of the modern Russian Parliament’s work. The role of theprovincial authorities during the elections is characterized, and an attempt is made to identify how the socio-politicalsituation, economic situation, and living conditions in the said provinces influenced the preferences of the Kostromaand Yaroslavl public. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the issue in question has never been specificallystudied before, while provincial context and the activities of the Kostroma and Yaroslavl deputes are poorly covered inhistorical literature. The author seeks to identify to what extent the people’s deputies expressed the left-wing interestsof their voters in the Parliament. It is concluded that in 1907 the representatives of the left parties – Cadets, People’sSocialists and Social Democrats – were elected to the II Duma from the Kostroma and Yaroslavl provinces. And al-though the provincial tsarist authorities tried to prevent this outcome of the elections, the local population consciouslyvoted for the left. The most valuable sources for the research were the provincial newspapers containing interesting and contradictory information, various points of view, and rich factual material about the deputies’ election campaign andthe parliamentary work
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):26-33
26-33
HISTORIOGRAPHY, SOURCE STUDIES, METHODS OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
THE REIGN OF FYODOR ALEKSEYEVICH (1676–1682): DEBATABLE ISSUES IN MODERN DOMESTIC HISTORIOGRAPHY
Abstract
The figure of Tsar Fyodor Alekseyevich and events that took place in Russia during his brief reign cameinto the focus of attention of historians only at the end of the 20th century. Since then they have become the object ofvigorous debates in domestic historiography. The purpose of this article is to summarize the historiographical positionson the main controversial issues, most of which chronologically go beyond the reign of Fyodor Alekseyevich. In thearticle are considered questions of continuity of the policy of the tsar, on the basic tendencies in evolution on the statepower, on degree of independence of the government, on western influence, on the beginning of the New Age and char-acter of the ongoing reforms. It is noted that on the issue of the degree of independence government, most researchersexpress an opinion about the gradual increase in the personal participation of the tsar in state affairs. While Sedov’sthesis about the weakening of the autocracy during the reign of Tsar Fyodor needs additional argumentation. It seems tobe a productive position on historians who tend to trace the connection between the policy of Fyodor Alekseyevich bothwith the transformations of his predecessors and with the reforms of Peter the Great. When considering a particularlyheated discussion about the beginning of the New Age, it was revealed that most historians are not inclined to draw aclear line between the New Age and the Middle Ages. It is noted that a number of researchers adhere to the point ofview of superficial Europeanization during the reign of Tsar Fyodor. However, for most historians, this version of the search for the “new”, which is not accompanied by the rejection of the “old”, seems to be a real alternative to the radical and cruel Petrine Europeanization. In combination with a positive assessment of the nature of the reforms carried out by Fyodor Alekseyevich and the methods he uses, this position leads to the opinion contained in modern historiography about the unrealized possibility of the evolutionary development of the country. It is emphasized that the idea of this period as one of the bifurcation points in Russian history should stimulate further study of the state Russia on the eve of Peter’s reforms.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):34-45
34-45
THE SOLOVETSKY CHRONICLE OF THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY: HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE ISSUE
Abstract
Chronicle-writing traditions of Russia in the 16th century were actively studied in Russian scienceon the material of large Moscow monuments. Such works as the Chronograph of the edition of 1512, the Nikon Chroni-cle and the Book of Powers became the object of attention of scientists due to the breadth of coverage of all-Russianevents. At the same time, local monuments remained on the periphery of the research interests of specialists. To date,Russian historiography has accumulated extensive material related to the publication, attribution and analysis of variousworks created outside of Moscow. Some problems are considered in the source studies of Russian scientists, however,the focus of attention of historians is shifted to textological issues, as well as clarification of individual macroplots ofRussian history based on local and all-Russian provincial monuments. Nevertheless, a comprehensive study of the localchronicle of the late Middle Ages and early modern times has not been carried out. For further advancement in the issueof the formation and development of the book tradition in Russia in the 16th century, it seems necessary to structure thematerial accumulated by historical science, on the basis of which it is possible to build a study on the general and char-acteristic features of local chronicle writing. The Solovetsky chronicler of the end of the 16th century is an example ofan unofficial chronicle written in the Russian North. The historiographic experience of studying this work, accumulatedby historical science, is of interest for summarizing and identifying problematic issues. The novelty of the work lies inthe preparation of the monument for consideration as an independent element of the historiographic tradition of Russiain the 16th century, involving the appeal to chronicle works as monuments of the historical thought of the region andera. As a result of the study, the results of the historiographic study of the Solovetsky annals in domestic science areindicated - the sources of the work, the ratio of editions, the time of creation and the authorship of the monument. Atten-tion is focused on issues that require separate consideration in the framework of the appeal to the Solovetsky chronicler of the 16th century, as a work of local literacy of his time: the purpose and practical application of the monument in the monastic tradition, the specifics of the work of local chroniclers, the principle of sampling events and the author’s thematic priorities.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):46-54
46-54
SOURCE STUDIES IN MODERN HISTORICAL CULTURE
SOURCE STUDIES IN THE STRUCTURE OF CURRENT HISTORICAL CULTURE: INVITATION TO DISCUSSION
Abstract
At the turn of the XXI century, there emerged a situation of civilizational transition from postmodernto post-postmodern, characterized in historical knowledge by the continued increase in fragmentation of scientific historical knowledge amid the actualizing demand for global history and the process of renarrativization / the war of narratives in socially-oriented historiography. New epistemological problems require solutions for a number of issues in the theory of source studies and the expansion of source studies practices. The following issues are submitted fordiscussion: (1) expanding the source base for historical research, primarily by mitigating the dominance of written his-torical sources and developing tools for accessing visual and material historical sources; (2) the role of source studiesin overcoming the fragmentation of historical knowledge; (3) the possibility of cooperation between the source studyparadigm of historical science and the narrative logic of socially-oriented history. The problems are formulated andcharacterized on the basis of the neoclassical phenomenological concept of source studies, continuing the legacy ofthe Russian version of neo-Kantianism (A. I. Vvedensky, A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky) and focusing on precise scientificknowledge. The concept of the “empirical reality of the historical world” developed by O. M. Medushevskaya within this paradigm is proposed as a tool for solving some topical problems of historical cognition.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):55-61
55-61
SOURCE STUDIES OF HISTORIOGRAPHY: SOME DEBATABLE ISSUES
Abstract
The article analyzes the basic concepts of source studies of historiography and the specific features ofthe classification of historiographic sources implemented by the members of the Scientific and Pedagogical School ofSource Studies in the Source Studies textbook (Moscow, 2015). The paper formulates the grounds and principles for a comparative study of national historiographic traditions with the identification of similar and distinctive features of their development, as well as the characteristic features inherent in the Russian historiographic tradition throughout its existence.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):63-68
63-68
ON THE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL SOURCE STUDIES: ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW
Abstract
The author deconstructs the constituting of the scientific school of source studies in the texts ofM. F. Rumyantseva, showing how the internalism in the historiography of science determines this process. The use oftypologies that summarize the “essential” characteristics of the change in scientific rationality allows her to place theschool in the “mainstream” of the development of historical epistemology over the past century. At the same time, theclassification method used by her does not add new knowledge about the phenomenon of the scientific school, but onlyleads to its renaming using the name of the class to which this phenomenon belongs. Accordingly, the basic element ofthe school remains unchanged, since the object of source study becomes defined at the starting point. Ignoring the exter-nalist approach allows M. F. Rumyantseva to bypass such inconvenient for her, but important problems as the specificsof humanitarian, including historical, cognition; pragmatic conditionality of the researcher’s activity; changing the roleof theory in research; the value of non-source knowledge in the study of the past; historicization not only of the actors of the past, but also of the subject who explores it. Taking them into account would make it possible to avoid absolutization of the truth of the fundamental idea of the scientific school about the object of source study, which requires concretization, and, consequently, relativization.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):69-75
69-75
COMPREHENSION OF THE PAST IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORICAL CULTURE
Abstract
The article questions the thesis about overcoming the postmodern paradigm. It is stated that the ideas andresearch approaches proposed by the postmodern classics will remain as an element of the theoretical and methodo-logical base of humanities and will coexist with other conceptions. This, in turn, actualizes such issues as the structureof the object of a historical study, the scientific status of historical writing, and the approbation of post-structuralistmethods of text analysis in historical research. It is shown that within the postmodern paradigm, the meaningfulnessand structuredness of a historical event is understood as the impact of linguistic structures on the chaotic flow of infor-mation. The practice of historical writing is deprived of scientific status and is shifting towards literature, because inhistorical proof the main role is given not so much to logical devices as to linguistic and literary means, which createthe illusion of the described events corresponding to historical reality. Therefore, it is logical to use research techniquesand methods of post-structuralist literary criticism in historiography. However, textual analysis is supposed to examinethe ways of meaning formation as such and all the potential exits from the text to the intertext, while in historiographythe demonstration of the openness of the text does not make sense in itself. It is necessary to avoid this multiplicity, which undoubtedly has literary, but not historiographical meaning. All this, in turn, poses the task of finding a specific set of cultural codes within which the secondary meanings of a historical work were formed during a specific historical period.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):76-82
76-82
HISTORICAL COGNITIVISM: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF COGNITIVE HISTORY
Abstract
The socio-cultural and epistemological status of the professional community of contemporary Russianhistorians, the social functions of historical science, historical knowledge, and cognition, as well as the possibilities ofupdating research strategies and scientific searches cause disputes and discussions in domestic historiography, whenscholars start reflecting on the dominant paradigms of their knowledge development, the methodological and theoreticalinstruments of their science, and the possibilities, prospects, and significance of historical and philosophical know-ledge. Amid the epistemological uncertainty of the post-postmodern era and fragmentation of historical knowledge andcognition, the article discusses the theory and methodology of cognitive history (as a possibility of “rigorous science”)and epistemological characteristics of the phenomenological paradigm of modern source studies (as a new “disciplinaryontology”), outlined and substantiated in the works of O. M. Medushevskaya and M. F. Rumyantseva. Special attention is drawn to the idea that the mere historiographical fact of the emergence of the theory and methodology of historical cognitivism is the congenial evidence of the “end of history” of historical phenomenology of the previous Soviet historiography.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):83-87
83-87
SOURCE STUDIES OF THE LATE XIX – EARLY XXI CENTURIES BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND CULTUROLOGY
Abstract
During the period from the late XIX to the early XXI century historians increasingly began paying at-tention to dimensionality in history, with this process intensified in the 1970s. Scholars started to actively use variouscyclical scales for measuring crisis phenomena from the 3–4-year Kitchin cycle, 12-year Ignatyev cycles, and 45–60-year Kondratyev cycles to the longue durée historical time concept of Braudel, the scales of historical time and spaceof Pomerants, 400–600-year Fursov cycles, etc. The concepts of socio-economic formations and the stadial develop-ment of civilizations became pertinent again. It was one of the typical signs of shifting from one scientific paradigm toanother on the scale of historical and cultural eras. The article discusses two aspects of the posed problems: the conceptsof postmodernity and post-postmodernity and the framework outlining the position of the modern source-study knowl-edge of historiographical sources in the current historical culture. The author examines the structural composition ofhistorical knowledge and changes in the problems of modern source studies from the perspective of replacing the sci-entific paradigm of the modern era with the paradigm of the postmodern era as a new historical and cultural epoch. Ap-proaches to the study of sources created by different paradigms coexist in science because of the diversity of functionsand the synthetic nature of historical knowledge. The postmodern science raises the question of the cultural content ofhistorical knowledge, which allows modern source studies to introduce into the orbit of its functioning techniques andmethods for studying the same sources in generalizations of different logical capacity and, most importantly, to ensurecomparable trajectories of the historical thought movement during the transition from one level of generalization to an-other. The article compares the possibilities of source studies as a special and systemic discipline and offers a dynamicmodel of the discursive field of historiographic sources. The author emphasizes the demand of the current historical culture for mastering the multifactorial nature of the field of source studies, the topological nature of historical knowledge, and the dynamic nature of the postmodern historical models.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):88-94
88-94
VISUAL SOURCE: PERSPECTIVES, PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF ITS USE AS AN INFORMATION RESOURCE
Abstract
The article is written in line with the approach that is relevant in the modern socio-cultural context andhas formed as a result of the so-called “visual turn” in historical science. It analyzes, for the first time, the specifics ofvisual sources as information resources for studying Russian history. The author used the methodology of the cognitivemodel of source studies, according to which images and written texts belong to different types of sources. They differ not only by their material media, but also by the information encoding principles. The purpose of the article is to show the perspectives and identify the objective and subjective limitations in the study and decoding of various images by a historian. The experience of working with visual sources from different eras of Russian history shows that productiveresults are possible only with the use of special thoroughly designed methods and the interdisciplinary approach. Andeven then a historian will face a wide range of problems, some of which (e. g., the lack of free access to images, inabilityto obtain high-quality copies, etc.) do not depend on the researcher’s will and professionalism. Other problems are re-lated to the fact that images, unlike written sources familiar to a historian, encode information in the form of images andrequire special intellectual training expanding the researcher’s professional horizons. This is by no means a reason to dismiss such an important information resource. It is necessary to further develop, improve, and professionally discuss the methods of source analysis of visual sources and their archaeographical description.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):95-100
95-100
SHOULD WE KILL A DRAGON, OR HISTORICAL REVISIONISM AS A METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEM OF POST-COLONIAL STUDIES (THE CASE OF IRELAND)
Abstract
In the historiography of post-colonial studies, Ireland may be of particular interest, since this countrywas one of the first British colonies to achieve independence. Accordingly, certain trends in its development, includinghistoriography and methodology of historical source studies, emerged almost half a century earlier than in other former British colonies, which makes it possible to make cautious predictions about the occurrence of certain problems of post-colonial historiography in general and some possible ways to solve them.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):101-105
101-105
ETHNOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY
THE CONFESSIONAL PRESENT OF THE TIKHVIN KARELIANS
Abstract
This article based on the field research carried out in 2020–2022 describes the current confessionalsituation among the Tikhvin Karelians, a tiny ethnic group that lives in the Boksitogorsk District of the LeningradOblast in Russia and since the XVIII century belongs to the Fedoseevtsy movement – the radical denomination of theOld Believers. Insufficient knowledge about non-Russian Old Believers and the lack of information about the currentconfessional life in the region make this study original and relevant. The study led to the following conclusions. 1) OlgaFishman considered the Tikhvin Karelians as ethno-confessional group where ethnic and confessional characteristicswere practically equated (Karelians = Old Believers). Although such a substitution of terms is still valid, the ethniccharacteristics certainly became more important. 2) The confessional self-identification of the current population ofthe Karelian enclave is rather vague. This can be explained by two reasons: the disruption of all external confessionalrelations and the deaths of the last religious leaders and devout women that continued their legacy (communal prayersin Karelian villages have not been conducted since the early 2000s). 3) Only those women and men who renouncedmarriage were called the “Old Believers” by the Fedoseevtsy. No contemporary villagers reject marriage, and therefore they do not see themselves as the Old Believers. Most of them were baptized into “old faith”, undertake their daily religious practices without priests, and visit Orthodox churches occasionally.
Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2023;45(2):106-111
106-111
Anniversary
112-112
Scientific information
113-116
117-117