No 4 (2024)

The article introduces a special theme of the issue on the “Anthropology of Affective Atmospheres”, featuring contributions by S.V. Sokolovskiy, D.A. Radchenko, S. Runkel, and an interview with T. Griffero. Readers of this thematic issue are acquainted with the new area of philosophical and social research, which until now has practically not attracted the attention of Russian anthropologists, despite the fact that the so-called “atmospheric turn” has deeply influenced quite a wide range of social sciences and humanities, including anthropology. The main goal of this issue of the journal is to familiarize Russian anthropologists and ethnologists with theoretical and methodological foundations of (affective) atmospheres research and specific case studies in this field. The main task of this introduction to the topic is to review relevant concepts, to recommend the most influential publications, the familiarity with which is expected to facilitate the introduction of these subjects into field ethnography programs, and to provide a brief overview of the current “atmospheric” research in the country.

Touching objects of public art is one of the most frequently recorded and at the same time superficially described practices of interaction with the urban environment. I propose to look at this practice through the lens of the “affective atmospheres” approach, which allows us to problematize tactile contact as a means and result of affective attunement with space. Analyzing the affective-discursive canon, emerging around the interaction with a new art object (the sculpture “Big Clay No. 4” in Moscow), I demonstrate how, on the one hand, the transition from digital to visual and tactile interaction with the materiality of space creates collective affect online; on the other hand, how this affect is transmitted to social media, making the public art object the center of a phygital hybrid space.

To revise the origins and external relationships of the Tagar population (800–300 BC) nearly half a century after my book (1977), 36 male Tagar cranial samples were compared with 117 samples representing other periods and regions using multivariate statistical methods. To date, the principal contenders for the role of Tagar ancestors are the Andronovans, whose key role is supported by genetic facts. The pre-Andronovo substratum was likely represented by the Chaa-Khol’ people of Tuva and the Yelunino people of the Upper Ob. The Karasuk tribes do not appear to have taken part in Tagar origins. Among the neighbors of the Tagar people, the closest to them are the Pazyryk people of the Ursul, Altai, and certain Sagly people of Aimyrlyg, Tuva. Judging by the dates, those groups resulted from a southward migration of certain Tagar populations at the Saragash stage. Since the Chaa-Khol’ people, as I showed previously, were extremely close to Scythians of the steppes, and among the Tagar people, to those of the Saragash stage, it appears that the Saragash people or their descendants had migrated not merely to the Altai-Sayan region but also much further west – to the Eastern European steppes. The archaic Scythian culture, which preceded this migration, may have spread along the same route, but by way of diffusion.

The term “folk astronomical knowledge” refers to a set of practical knowledge that allows a person to navigate in space and time. An important point is the possibility of a total assessment of this knowledge not only at the level of an individual, but also at the level of a separate settlement or region. The authors developed a method for determining an indicator characterizing the level of folk astronomical knowledge, based on field materials collected in the Republic of Tajikistan in 2019–2023. The method was verified on a large sample (177 people were surveyed). The average values of the “coefficient of knowledge” (k) made it possible to assess the process of knowledge loss among informants of four age groups, as well as to compile maps reflecting the preservation of folk astronomical knowledge in the studied territories. The analysis of the maps makes it possible to propose a model describing the observed prevalence of this knowledge. Its maximum level is recorded along the Pamir Tract, in the zone of active information exchange, and the minimum is in isolated valleys. Based on the proposed model, high-quality predictions were made about the level of popular astronomical knowledge in areas that have not yet been surveyed.

The article examines life strategies of disabled women who wish to find a spouse/life partner and build a family. We take the cases of contemporary Russia and Kazakhstan as countries that in many aspects share a common post-Soviet social and cultural background. Israel, which is considered one of the countries favorable for disabled people, is additionally taken as a case for comparison, for in fact there live many impaired ex-Soviets including women with disabilities. Drawing on own field research, we attempt to outline the principal models of marital behavior of such women in the countries under examination, pinpointing their specificities in each case. We argue that despite different social and cultural surroundings as well as varying ethnic and religious traditions, the factor of double stigmatization – both of disability and of gender stigmatization – makes a profound impact on self-identifications of these women who feel more vulnerable if compared with so-called “normal” women.

The Motu Melanesians have since ancient times played a significant role in the economic life of many Papuan and Melanesian societies in the coastal regions of the southeast of the New Guinea island. From the late nineteenth century onward, Motu villages experienced considerable influence of colonial administrations. Subsequently, following Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975, the impact of globalization intensified, causing significant cultural transformation. To date, however, the Motu continue to maintain their strong cultural identity.