Abstract: Focusing on the history of hunting by members of the Soviet political elite, this article analyses the use of animals in the rituals of masculinity that took place during hunting outings and were central to power production in the Soviet Union. Framed by gender theory, the article demonstrates how animals were used to assert the hunter's dominance over and subordination of both nature and other members of the hunting party and thus justify claims to leadership. Alive, animals created a challenge to overcome; dead, they served as symbolic manifestations of the sexual and physical prowess of the hunter. Furthermore, animals were extensively used by Soviet commentators to construct meaning about particular cultural/political moments or to reflect on the nature of leadership and the qualities that leaders had to espouse. In post-war Russia, widely circulated animal-centred hunting anecdotes about Khrushchev and Brezhnev expressed the scathing opinion that the public had about their leaders and the critique of the system they created. In these anecdotes, the animals often failed to adhere to the roles prescribed to them, upending the hunting rituals of performative masculinity as they had been carefully planned by supporting staff. The animals thus, rather than humans, exposed the hollowness of the Soviet political system.
Abstract: The article focuses on the epizootic of animal brucellosis in Kazakhstan in the 1930s and 1940s. Soviet authorities enforced large-scale modernization which was declared progressive compared to traditional nomadic pastoralism. In their policies towards animals, however, the Soviet authorities failed to consider that they dealt with living beings that were susceptible to infectious disease. This happened because changes were introduced under the conditions of an extreme deficit of resources and veterinary professionals, as well as under the implementation of a production plan that overruled all other considerations. The state organized at least three waves of animal migration to Kazakhstan which all contributed to a spread of infections. Animal health was compromised during transportation and on arrival at state and collective farms. The care provided on the farms was poor: quarantines were violated, sanitary norms including the ones related to burying animal bodies were ignored, and people had to keep young animals in their houses in winter, which ultimately led to epizootic and epidemic episodes. Thus, at the initial stage, modernization in Kazakhstan entailed not only such large-scale tragedies as famine, but also diseases that affected the health of human and non-human animals. In trying to keep up the image of modernization as a progressive endeavour, Soviet authorities blamed the epizootics on enemies and saboteurs. Ultimately, the endemic lack of open communication on controlling epizootic outbreaks reduced opportunities for raising public awareness about the problem and alleviating animal suffering.
Abstract: The study of human-animal relations is a promising approach in contemporary historiography. It answers the call for interdisciplinarity and opens new perspectives on the history of modern societies and empires. During the past three decades, it has evolved into a highly theorized endeavour that re-situates nonhuman species in social and natural contexts. From the large mammals of the sea to small insects, it discusses phenomena such as coevolution, culturalization and commodification. Although pathbreaking works have been published on whaling, hunting and the animal gaze, the study of human-animal relations remains peripheral in the context of imperial Russia and the Soviet Union. This is even more surprising, considering scholars have convincingly argued that exploring human-animal relations can provide critical insights. This special issue addresses this desideratum with contributions ranging from Baltic urban spaces to the ice shelves of the Arctic Circle, and from the zoos of Germany to the steppes of Central Asia. Using the tools of human-animal studies, they re-evaluate established narratives on animal agency, industrialization and conflicting identities. The articles deal both with imperial expansion and simultaneous shifts into modern societies. This focus on the interplay of human and nonhuman actors crosses the boundaries not only of social and environmental history, but of Russian and Soviet history in general by delivering new approaches to an old relationship.
Abstract: The Northeast Passage — the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans north of Siberia — has always been a border region and place of encounter. This article examines encounters between humans and polar bears in this zone as recorded in travel accounts from five centuries and argues that these depictions of polar bears shape the image of the Arctic to this day. The travelogues created a topos of brave polar heroes threatened by monstrous predators. Yet the invaders here were the humans encroaching on polar bears' habitat at the edge of the pack ice, and in most cases they were also the ones doing the killing. Explorers hunted bears for food, for their pelts or as trophies, and the huge predator was stylized as a symbol of the inaccessible North. Admired for its superhuman physical capabilities, the bear also symbolized the deadly dangers of a journey across the icy sea. It compounded the human fear of perishing in a hostile environment with the archetypal fear of being eaten. However, within this frame of human-polar bear relations, the descriptions reveal some notable differences. While Western European travellers heavily thematized this obsession with killing and sometimes capturing polar bears, Russian sailors and polar bear hunters, who were more familiar with the fauna and climate of the Arctic Ocean, had a much more casual attitude. Thus, polar bears are mentioned far less frequently in their accounts, even though Russian scientists, hunters and traders exploring the Siberian seas outnumbered Western expeditions looking for a trade route to East Asia many times over. But like the Western search for the Northeast Passage, the Russian expeditions were exclusive and overwhelmingly male endeavours that became a demonstration of masculine strength and social status.
Abstract: The article examines how human-tick interactions stimulated the production of scientific knowledge and influenced public health policy across the Iron Curtain. It analyses the development and dissemination of the Soviet theory of natural nidality of transmissible diseases, as formulated by Evgenii Pavlovskii. This theory posits that disease-causing pathogens exist in natural habitats independently of human presence. Focusing on Czechoslovak-Polish collaboration from 1947 to 1963, the text highlights the influence of Soviet science on tick-borne encephalitis research during the Cold War. Ticks thus played a central role in driving transnational research: they spurred international conferences and institutional cooperation, while also shaping ideological narratives and strategic health initiatives.
Abstract: In the second half of the nineteenth century, the living conditions of urban dogs around the world worsened significantly. Perceived as potential vectors of rabies, the authorities of modernizing cities tried to reduce the overall population of dogs by catching and killing them, by introducing a dog tax on their human owners and by passing special orders, according to which dogs had to be muzzled and leashed in public spaces. This article analyses the development and implementation of these policies in the Romanov Empire. Based on archival material from the Baltic provinces and periodicals from other regions, it argues that municipal regulations of the late nineteenth century caused dogs to change their lives, adapt to new niches available to them, and co-evolve with people to remain in the urban setting of the empire.
In 1983 Tadeusz Kantor briefly returned to Wielopole, his place of birth, to stage an extraordinary performance of his play, Wielopole, Wielopole . After an interval of almost fifty years he renewed his acquaintance with the parish priest, Reverend Julian Śmietana, who presented the playwright with his own work about Wielopole. The study of Śmietana’s unpublished writings and his biography, verifying the information given in local histories and the literature on Kantor against official and ecclesiastical sources, permits the clearing up of errors and contradictions concerning Kantor’s childhood and youth, his return to Wielopole and his relationship with Śmietana. The degree of incomprehension, even outrage, with which some inhabitants of Kantor’s birthplace experienced the performance of his play, is also revealed.
