Почему Сибирь не Америка: особенности сибирского характера

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the Siberian character as a part of the Russian national character. The article aims to review the special features and traits of the Siberians character. Over the past decades, Russian social sciences have comprehended Siberia as an American model of society. The main research method contains a comparison of Siberian and American societies within the process of colonization and development of the territories of both countries. Based on anthropological, historical and sociological studies, particular results were obtained: there are significant differences between the two societies in mindset, worldview, behavior, social communication, economic activities, and many more. The reasons of the mentioned differences are based on the colonization type and climate characteristics. Siberia was colonized by only one Russian ethnic group in harsh climatic conditions. There were no external threats during the Siberian colonization. North America was colonized by several national states (Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain) in mild climates. By the way, North American territories were also developed by African slaves who worked at plantations. Besides, America was colonized under the French threat. Native people during the colonization in Siberia and North America played different roles. These totally contrasting conditions had a huge impact on agricultural practices and farming techniques, the worldview of the whole American national character and the Siberian local character. A significant part of this study was focused on the mentality of the Siberians. The core of Siberian mentality contains two big complex categories: space and labor. Space and labor as the main patterns of mentality formed the features of cultural, social and household life of the Siberians. As a result of a comparison of the colonizations and characters of the two societies, a comparative table was drawn up. The table shows the value-based categories of the two societies: desires, purposes, type of social relations, etc. Russian and American studies were taken as sources for evaluating the features. The table shows that only a few value-based categories are similar, other categories are different significantly. Obviously, future research demands more valuebased categories for comparison and evaluation. Detailed data about Siberian and American societies will help to conduct research with accurate results for unbiased comprehension.