Oriental Studies (Dec 2020)
‘Everyone Has One’s Own Siberia’: Years of War and Deportation in Monologues of Lidzhi T. Dordzhiev and Elizaveta S. Basanova
Abstract
Introduction. The publication highlights a special period in the history of Kalmykia still insufficiently studied by anthropologists ― that of the Great Patriotic War and nation’s deportation to Siberia (1943–1956) ― introducing memories and narratives thereof. It consists of an introduction, two interviews, commentaries, and a bibliography. The presented narratives belong to individuals who had met the trials of deportation with different life experiences: front-line soldier, Lieutenant L. T. Dordzhiev ― and Elista schoolgirl, daughter of the front-line soldier E. S. Basanova. Goals. The paper seeks to identify and clarify the meanings of everyday practices, details of life that were vital for the generation of our fathers and mothers, so that they remain understandable to the generation of children and grandchildren. Another goal is to understand what construction patterns in deportation narratives can be traced, what images and plots are significant, what verbal formulas and stable expressions are used by storytellers in spontaneous narration, and what assessments of past events and what expressions they give. Materials and Methods. Both the interviews will be explored through narrative analysis. The materials are presented in the form of transcribed spontaneous interviews received by the author from L. Dordzhiev in 2005, and from E. Basanova in 2018. Textological analysis and the method of text deconstruction were employed. Results. The front-line experience of L. Dordzhiev is interesting enough not only for his individual but for his collectivist strategy too, as well as for his participation in Operation Lentil (Russ. Chechevitsa). Male strategies of resistance to a repressive regime show legal literacy and the ability to speak Bolshevik (S. Kotkin) as means of self-defense, as well as a willingness to defend their dignity physically. The woman’s interview shows how the generation of Kalmyk children indoctrinated by Soviet ideology had to live with the values of Soviet society and loyalty to Kalmyk identity. Both the interviews are concrete examples of private memories of the war and deportation years ― first-person memories. The interview texts will be of interest to all researchers of the Kalmyk Deportation and memory of this period. The discursive strategies of these two narratives speak of their positive nature (J. Alexander).
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