Vladimir I. ANTONOVEast Siberian State University of Technology and Management
40v, Klyuchevskaya, Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia, 670013 Russian Federation
Senior Researcher, Scientific Research Department
Kalmyk State University named after B.B. Gorodovikov
11, Pushkina st., Elista, Republic of Kalmykia, 358000 Russian Federation
Visiting Researcher
Doctor of Science (in Philosophy)
Professor
e-mail: wlanto50@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0001-9920-0667
Antonov, V. (2024) Features of Identity of Mongolian Ethnic Groups of Russia in the Context of History and Modernity (on the Example of the Buryats)Abstract: The article presents the phenomenon of identity in the focus of identifying its features in relation to such a Mongolian ethnic group of Russia as the Buryats. A corresponding descriptive and factual analysis of the processes of etiology and formation of identity in the Buryat (initially – in a single Mongolian) ethnic environment is carried out. The cultural genesis of the Mongolian ethnic groups of Russia (Buryats and Kalmyks) stems from the common Mongolian historical and cultural roots, which to one degree or another connect the entire Mongolian world: the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Kalmykia as part of the Russian Federation, Mongolia, Inner Mongolia as part of the PRC. From this perspective, the ethnic world of the Mongols is considered as a certain spiritual and cultural integrity, since it contains as a basic principle the historical identity of the Mongolian ethnic groups, which is mainly of a traditionalist nature. A specific analysis of the said identity is given through the prism of its further evolution with cardinal changes, which was caused by their voluntary entry into the tsarist Russia. This led to a rather long and difficult contact of two completely different identities. If the Russians represented the Russian sovereign identity based on the European (civilizational) culture and the Orthodox faith, then the Buryats personified the original Mongolian identity, based on the traditional Eastern (nomadic) culture and Buddhist-shamanic beliefs and expressing one of the important layers of the East Asian civilization. In the process of their subsequent interaction, the Buryats gradually but naturally become bearers of a dual identity: the original Mongolian (cultural and historical) and the new, i.e. Russian. At the same time, the significance of the Russian identity in the ethnic self-consciousness of the Buryats increases significantly. The article consistently identifies the transformations in the structure of the national identity of the Buryats that occurred during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods of the country's development. The complex, multi-level (multidimensional) nature of identity among modern Buryats is shown.
Key words: identity, Mongolian ethnic group, Buryats, culture, tradition, Buddhism, shamanism, language, dual identity, multi-identity.
References:
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For Citation: Antonov, V. (2024) Features of Identity of Mongolian Ethnic Groups of Russia in the Context of History and Modernity (on the Example of the Buryats). International Journal of Cultural Research, 3 (56). 81–94. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2024_3_81
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2024_3_81
