What They Say Beyond the Volga: Folklore and Economics in Pavel Mel’nikov’s 'In the Forests'

• In Event: Pavel Mel’nikov’s Epic Novels as a Window to the Economic, Creative, Political, and Sexual World of Volga Sectarians

Abstract

Though Pavel Mel’nikov’s infuses the entirety of his 1874 novel In the Forests with ethnographic material he collected first-hand in the field, this work is just one part of a larger project, in which Mel’nikov mapped the history of persecution against Old Believers and other sectarians. This paper explores the intersection between the Old Believers’ creative power (their legends and tales) and their economic prowess as political acts.

Author

• Isabella Palange, U of Wisconsin-Madison