Finno-Ugric Alterity and the 1905 Revolution: Imperial Interpretations of Otherness in the Russian North

• In Event: Empire in the Way: Controlling and Liberating the Narratives of the Russian North

Abstract

The Russian revolution of 1905 was the culmination of mass political and social unrest that eventually spread throughout the Empire bringing about many legislative reforms. While the unrest was directed primarily at the Tsar and the ruling class located centrally in St. Petersburg or Moscow, the effects were felt throughout the many social classes. Much attention has been paid to the Russian Empires borderlands, especially those in the Steppe and Far East, however in the Russian North Finnish nationalism was developing and it would create a heated competition for the minds and souls of Finns and Finno-Ugric peoples. The question of the “Other” is one that has been investigated at great lengths in recent post-colonial historiography of the Russian Empire. Terms such as inorodtsy, and inozemtsy have been implemented in attempts to understand the place of “non-Russians,” but when used in the context of the Finns and Finno-Ugric’s the severity of their alterity can be put into question.

Author

• Richard Byington, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign