ИНДИГЕННЫЙ ПОВОРОТ В УГРОВЕДЕНИИ

Abstract

The article is devoted to the indigenous turn in Ugric studies, which refers to the cardinal changes that have occurred in Siberian ethnological and anthropological knowledge under the influence of the rapid entry into the humanities the Ob Ugrians (Khanty and Mansi) representatives, who are studying their culture “from the inside”. What is the specificity of this kind of research? What place do they occupy in the general scientific ethnographic field? What are their social functions and priorities, advantages and/or limitations? The article aims at searching for answers to these questions. The object of analysis is the Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Research and Development, in which today the main research forces of the ethnic scientific intelligentsia of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Ugra are concentrated. While considering the history of the institute creation, attention is drawn to the fact that the Ugric indigenous science formation was facilitated by all-Russian trends of regionalization, the activities of ethnically oriented public organizations in the okrug, as well as individual representatives of Russian and foreign science. The article highlights the contribution of the first leaders and employees of the institute (“founders”) to its scientific basis. In conclusion, the author brings up for discussion the problem of dialogue constructing during fieldwork. It is concluded that emphasizing the uniqueness of indigenous researchers as carriers of their native language and culture and upholding the independence of scientific centers created in Western Siberia occurred in the general context of global trends of indigenization and destigmatization. Emerging tendencies towards isolation are being overcome as northern/indigenous science becomes more established and equal dialogues are built in broader scientific contexts.