Cholera as a present-day concern in perception of the dwellers of the county town of Tsaritsyn (based on the materials of the newspaper “Volzhsko-Donskoy Listok”)

Abstract

The object of this research is the regional press as a source on the history of cholera epidemics of the late XIX century. The subject is the public moods and behavioral practices of the dwellers of the county town of Saratov governorate – Tsaritsyn, which was affected by cholera epidemic of 1892, in coverage of the regional press. The historiographical framework consists on the versatile and unique materials of the municipal newspaper "Volzhsko-Donskoy Listok", which are introduced into the scientific discourse for the first time. A detailed analysis of the annual publications of local press allowed tracing the chronology of the traditional approach towards perception of the poorly studied in literature cholera epidemics of 1892 in Tsaritsyn in the context of studying the history of everyday life. The author reveals this topic up until September 1893. Special attention is turned to examination of different stereotypical models of behavior that appeared to be widespread among the population, and became a somewhat response to the emerged situation of biological and social nature. The research is based on the interdisciplinary approach that implies comprehensive examination of the problem, involving the achievements in the history of medicine, historiography, psychology, sociology, etc. This article is the first attempt within the regional historiography to holistically examine the cholera epidemic of 1892 in Tsaritsyn. The conducted analysis of the newspaper “Volzhsko-Donskoy Listok” allowed to highly rate the informative capabilities of the regional press for studying cholera epidemics and their impact on life of the population in the post-reform period. The author offers the original classification of the whole variety of materials on the topic, as well as outlines the ways for their further usage.