Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the complex history of regional consciousness that locates Russians' attitudes in their own regions. It is devoted to three European Russian regions: Pskov, Orel, and Voronezh. The book addresses the major developments of regional identity in the Ural Mountains. It deals with the legacies of tsarist and Soviet colonialism among other ethnic groups – Tatars, Bashkirs, and Dagestanis – and their efforts to resist claims to cultural and political authority from the center. The book explores the concept of the "provincial" in nineteenth-century Russian writing culture. It focuses on Perm writer Aleksei Ivanov and his retelling in his novels of what Gorski calls an "enchanted" history of the region. The book also examines the evolution of contemporary Siberian identity and initiative in three cities: Omsk, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk.