The Gendered Voice in the Cultural Context of Subcarpathian Rus’/Transcarpathia

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel explores the differing experiences and perspectives of men and women ethnographers vis-à-vis their informants during fieldwork in interwar Subcarpathian Rus’ and that region’s subsequent incarnation as Soviet and post-Soviet Transcarpathian Ukraine. Two of the presenters pursue intriguing issues that arose in the course of their own fieldwork as women researchers. They share how they had access to the world of women informants in ways that a seasoned researcher famous for his work in the region, Petr Bogatyrev, as a man did not and could not have had. The third presenter examines the perspective and work of a Czech woman researcher and pedagogue in Subcarpathian Rus’ immediately after World War I. Her research resulted in a little known but impressive book published shortly after the addition of the province to Czechoslovakia and prior to visits by other ethnographers in the region. Replete with historical photos by the book’s author, masterful illustrations, and color plates of intricate embroidery from the region, the book brings attention to aspects of the life of peasant women at a time when the region was considered an “exotic” terra incognita. This panel is sponsored by the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association (SEEFA).

Sub Unit

• Folklore Studies

Chair

• Patricia Ann Krafcik, Evergreen State College

Papers

• The Role of Authority, Gender, and Trust: The Folklore Collections of Petr Bogatyrev (1920s-1930s) vs the Presenter’s Field Archive (1987-2019) - Kira Sadoja, Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf (Germany)

• Walking With a Clump of Turf on One’s Head: Gendered Perspectives on an Extinct Ritual - Elena E Boudovskaia, Georgetown U

• A Woman Ethnographer in Uncharted Territory: Amalie Kožmínová in the Mountains and Valleys of Subcarpathian Rus’ - Patricia Ann Krafcik, Evergreen State College

Discussant

• Laura Olson Osterman, U of Colorado at Boulder

Session Manager

• Nana Gulic, U of Toronto (Canada)