Issue 3, Vol. 104 (2017)

The study is concerned with travelogue and proto-ethnographic works from the first half of 19th century that focus on the metropolis of the Novorossiya south, the then recently founded Odessa. The authors of these texts, Western European and Central European visitors to the city, perceived Odessa as a specific, architecturally and economically developing urban complex characterized by fast growth and increasing wealth. In addition to the general characteristics of the city, the researched texts also uncovered proto-ethnographically oriented information dealing not only with the various local ethno-confession groups but also with the everyday culture of urban residents. The authors of the works recognized Odessa as a city where a new social entity is being formed, a city whose inhabitants can be perceived as an autonomous and fully-fledged subject of meta-layered interest. In conclusion, the study formulates a thesis that this proto-ethnographic literature could correspond with the beginnings of the formation of "the Odessa myth" that was inspired by the initial rapid development of the city and a number of special turns of events that accompanied this development.

The article entitled „Between Eternal Damnation and Promised Land: the Stereotypical Image of the Armenian Nation in the Literature of the 16th and 17 th century (on the example of Armenian traveler from Lvov, Simeon of Poland)“ deals with the notion of autostereotype or self-image and its significance in the Armenian historical and literary discourse. Armenian self-image reflects the experience of long-term existence as a religious minority without own country or kings, surrounded by Others. It incorporates into itself a number of aspects borrowed from the heterostereotype, which is mostly negative and full of hostile feelings against the „middleman minority“ supposed to play a role of „fifth column“. Armenian self-image thus oscillates between pride and humility, mirroring the role of martyrs.

The principal goal of this article
is to demonstrate the cultural and ethnical
changes of Koreans living on the territory
of Central Asian states of former Soviet
Union. The article shows, on the example of
Korean minority living in several states how
important could be the state interventions
for the formation and transformation of
cultural and ethnic identity. Koreans living
until the 19th century in Korea had, in spite
of many regional, dialectic and religious
differences, an idea of belonging to the
same ethnic group. After the beginning
of the outmigration to Russia from
northern part of the country due to bad
living conditions, there was a relatively
rapid (and voluntary) acceptance of
Russian culture. After their deportation
to Central Asia their culture had begun
to change in an even more important
way, even though they were aware of
their difference and this difference they
wanted to maintain in certain areas. Still,
they accepted the model of the “Soviet
man”.

The author discusses the issues of social exclusion from a neurobiological point of view. Exploring them at all facets she illustrates trajectory of human body trapped in a vicious circle of violence, suggesting that human body in the process of enculturation, if consistently excluded, transorms itself into a disempowered, submissive and traumatised body. The only valid way to break this vicious circle is to evoke empathy in human beings based not only on affective emotions, but on sensory feelings as well. The concept of “situated cognition” as an approach to fight against social exclusion is unfolded. The author’s arguments are based on her fieldowork experiences among street children in Tanzania that inextricably have intermingled with her own lifespan trajectory.

Review