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The authors, associates of the Center for Independent Sociological Research of the St. Petersburg European University, suggest that genealogy -- the tracing of one's family roots or "roots mania" -- has become "an even more influential cultural movement" in Russia than it is in the West. (1) Associations of amateur and professional genealogists appeared at the beginning of the 1990s: the Historico-Genealogical Society in Moscow, the Russian Genealogical Society (which existed before 1917) in St. Petersburg, and similar societies in Murmansk, Novgorod, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Tver, and Samara. In 1992 the Russian National Library established an Institute of Genealogical Research and an international conference of genealogists was held in St. Petersburg. A journal was started (by the Russian Genealogical Society) and a publishing house specializing in genealogical literature was set up (VIRD). Genealogy in Russia, as elsewhere, exists on two levels, amateur and professional. Many people research their own family trees, perhaps after signing up at a "school for the beginning genealogist." Specialized internet sites are now an essential tool of the amateur genealogist. (2) Others pay for the services of a professional genealogist, of whom there are 20--30 in St. Petersburg alone. As they charge $500--1,000, most of their clients are wealthy people. The most common motive is to establish a connection with one of the privileged estates of tsarist times: the nobility, the clergy, or the guild merchants. As a "noble" you can join the Russian Assembly of the Nobility (Rossiiskoye Dvoryanskoye Sobraniye), a pre-revolutionary organization "re-established" in Moscow in 1990 and now boasting 10,000 members (including family members). However, there are other motives for hiring a professional genealogist. Some people wish to establish an ethnic origin that will help them emigrate to Israel, Germany, or another foreign country. Of course, many people simply want to uncover the truth about their family history (although, the authors remark, "many themes are still taboo"). During the Soviet period they had to suppress certain dangerous facts, such as the "bad" class or ethnic origin of some forebear or the existence of relatives abroad. For self-protection families constructed partly false "official" narratives. "Roots mania" -- the authors argue -- is part of a "symbolic revolution" that supplants official symbolic representations of the past (victory in the Great Patriotic War, Gagarin's space flight) by private ones. In other words, it is the "privatization of history." It is a positive phenomenon, though not wholly so. The feeling of belonging to one of the old tsarist estates -- what the authors call "virtual estate affiliation" (virtualnaya soslovnost) -- may give birth to a special sense of honor and dignity alongside beliefs concerning desirable occupations and lifestyles. But these ideas are not compatible with democratic values. NOTES (1) However, they also suggest that it may have already passed its peak. (2) The most informative sites are http://www.genealogia.ru, http://www.vgd.ru, and http://www.petergen.com |
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