One
of the branches of our research program is documenting and comparing
the folklore traditions of two sets of villages: Siberian
villages settled in 1906-1916 as part of the Stolypin land reforms, and
the Belarusian villages where the settlers originated.
On our 2010 expedition to the Belarusian-Siberian village of Turgenevka
we recorded a number of old Belarusian songs. In 2011 we traveled
to Turgenevka's mother region, the Berioza district of Belarus, looking
for local variants of the songs and local relatives of the Turgenevka
settlers. (See the expedition reports in our Completed Expeditions
section.) In 2012 the search continues, this time centered in the
village of Sporovo.
Sporova is known for its many fine singers and special sense of
humor. We have timed the expedition in order to document the
local celebration of Ivan Kupala (John the Baptist day) -- an ancient
holiday, filled with fire and water symbolism, with roots in the pagan
summer solstice celebration. But our work in Sporova will mainly
focus on visiting singers in their homes, recording their oral
histories, and recording songs. In addition we will be
photographing and documenting examples of local architecture,
handicrafts, foodways and other folklore.
We will also visit the city of Brest and the famous Brest fortress,
site of heroic, doomed resistance against the invading German forces of
Operation Barbarossa in 1941.
This expedition is the part of American Friends of Russian Folklore
program. Please, have a look at -
http://www.russianfolklorefriends.org/home.html
A detailed briefing and itinerary are available if you send a request to: sergminin5@yandex.ru