Ways of speaking, responsibility and the animals ‘of the forest’ in Northwest Russia

Laura Siragusa* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Ways of speaking are not limited to specific narratives, which the local villagers share, as is the case of the story presented by Marina Ivanovna, but also encompass different genres and structural features of the Vepsian language. Both mecživatad and kodiživatad can display an odd behaviour, such as making an appearance in the village, despite being usually located in the forest, and this prompts Vepsian villagers to engage either with a certain genre and structural feature of their heritage language or in a narrative that is often highly politicized and expressed in the Russian language. Veps, a Finno-Ugric minority in the Russian Federation, live in a Northwest Russian territory that they share with other nationalities, such as Russians, Karelians and Ingrians. The mecživatad are supposed to dwell in the forest and not to gain territory in the area inhabited by humans and kodiživatad.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationManaging the Return of the Wild
Subtitle of host publicationHuman Encounters with Wolves in Europe
EditorsMichaela Fenske, Bernhard Tschofen
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter11
Number of pages16
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic) 1351127764
ISBN (Print)9780815353416
Publication statusPublished - 9 Jul 2020

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