“Whether I Want It or Not, I’m a Siberian”: The Past and Present of Siberian Identity

Abstract

This article based on a social constructivist approach analyzes the past and present of Siberian regional identity. Three key components of identity are identified for analysis: territorial self-identification, common myths of local historical memory, and common cultural practices. It is hypothesized that Siberian regional identity, both historically and in modern symbolic practices, has sought and continues to seek the status of an ethnic group or nation. Therefore, the analysis criteria used by modern research for ethnic groups or nations can be applied. The research materials include content analysis (CA) of media, archival data, personal materials, data from historical and sociological research, and original research conducted through remote focus groups in nine cities across the Urals and Siberia. Based on these data, it is concluded that the claim of Siberian identity to quasi-ethnic or quasi-national status is generally unconvincing. Each element used for analysis reveals only extremely vague characteristics of the unique properties attributed to “Siberianism”. The modern territorial identity of “Siberians” is identified as vague and conditional. The mythology of local historical memory can be assessed as a derivative of the national historical narrative. General cultural practices are found to be a set of imposed auto-stereotypes, which are deconstructed on critical analysis. Despite the significant number of characteristics of Siberian identity remaining entities without content, the idea of Siberian identity is shared by most residents of the eastern regions of Russia. This suggests the existence of a set of symbols significant to the local community, which, under certain conditions, could serve as the constitutive basis for the emergence of a Siberian ethnic (national) identity.