Sibirica

This article is devoted to the work of ivory carving artists in Sakha (Yakutia). It analyzes the ways craftsmen use, engage, and relate to mammoth ivory in their creative work. They start each carving project with consideration of the material, its quality and condition. Material often dictates the ways the creative idea develops and predetermines the outcome. Attention to the material is an important aspect of the relational engagement with it. Mammoth ivory, due to its structure, responds to climatic fluctuations, which is often described by artists as “breathing,” and it therefore demonstrates the qualities of an active material. For craftsmen, mammoth ivory is an agent and sentient material. The article contributes to the discussion of the importance of material in creative work.

The historical memory of Siberia is heterogeneous and diverse; different parts of this region have their own emphases in the politics of historical memory. This article focuses on the historical memory of Yugra (a historical territory roughly coterminous with the Khanty-Mansiiskii Autonomous Okrug), as it is from this territory that the development of Siberian oil lands began. Oil has become the central focus of memory for the northern region of Western Siberia, and oil workers are symbols of territorial development in Yugra. The creation of the oil and gas complex is portrayed as a victory over nature, and oil workers are portrayed not only as pioneers who opened the region, but also as soldiers.

This paper presents an analysis of how neo-shamanic communicative practices have evolved in Siberia and the Russian Far East over the last four decades. We identify three social cultural factors that have facilitated the spread of neo-shamanism: the ideological vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet system; foreign missionaries and their work; and ethnic revival. We discern three periods in the development of the communicative practices according to a respective key process in each of them. During glocalization, followers of experiential neo-shamanism and initiators of the revival of indigenous shamanic traditions act as agents of communication. During institutionalization, what takes place is typification and streamlining interactions with mass audiences, with government agencies, tourism industry and artistic practices. The period of hybridization is the time when neo-shamanic elements merge with parapsychology, business consulting, fine arts, and when neo-syncretic forms are created.

The Tuvan language is a South Siberian Turkic language spoken by the Tuvan people who live in the Republic of Tyva, an autonomous republic in the South Siberian region of Russia. The Republic of Tyva is a bilingual region where both Russian and Tuvan are spoken. However, Russian is the dominant language, and therefore Tuvan has fallen to the status of a second language for the Tuvan people. In such an environment, the teaching of Tuvan as a native language is of great importance. In this article, two primary schoolbooks used in the teaching of Tuvan have been considered from the aspect of visual semiotics. Through this article, I aim to show the effects of visual semiotics on native language education.

Nick Fielding (Oxford: Signal Books, Ltd., 2020), xv +320pp. £16.99 Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-909930-865.