Special Settlers of Arkhangelsk in the Cultural Memory of the Local Community and Their Descendants

Abstract

Abstract The article reports a case study of oral recollections of the descendants of special settlers, i.e. peasants dekulaked and deported to the Arkhangelsk region in the early 1930s. The region was previously a part of the Northern Krai. A historiographical review related to the research topic has been carried out. The concepts of dekulakization in the USSR and destinies of dekulaked are discussed in the local context. The stories of the descendants of the special settlers analysed in the article result from semi-structured interviews. These stories form a hypertext. We select stable motifs of oral stories recorded from the descendants of the special settlers. Conclusions are drawn about the characteristics of the cultural memory of the descendants of the special settlers. The article deals with the features of family identity and the role of awareness of the fate of their relatives in this identity. The children and grandchildren of the special settlers have different attitudes towards dekulakization of the families of their ancestors. This is driven by the diversity of behaviours, choices and particular circumstances of their life. The interpretation is grounded in the idea of variability of the process of special resettlements and its dependence on the regional context, and on the method of family history.