In search of ethnographical reality (regarding the peculiarities of the traditions of the Russian school of Indology in St. Petersburg)

Abstract

The ethnographic focus of the Russian Indological school was mainly developed in St. Petersburg and, above all, in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE). The author identifies five main stages of its development. Thus, the purpose of the article is to determine the time frame, the main life circumstances of a particular stage, the main actors, the tools and tasks of scientific activity, key scientific activities and the main result/product of labor. The first period refers to the last third of the XIX century and is associated with the name of Ivan Minaev (1840–1890), founder of the Russian Indological School. The next stage is connected with the names of the director of the MAE Vasily Radlov and the Indologists Alexander and Lyudmila Mervart, who carried out a special ethnographic expedition to Ceylon and India in 1914–1918, for the reorganization of the scientific and educational activities of the museum. The early Soviet period (from 1917 to the middle of the 20th century) was connected with the separation of MAE from world science and other restrictions, but Indologists (Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, Valery Krasnodembsky, etc.) at that time found ways to acquire new ethnographic knowledge, the directions of scientific research were partly expanded. The revival of all areas of MAE Indological activity occurred after the liberation of the countries of South Africa from colonial dependence. The current state of affairs in the MAE inspires a certain optimism. There is a well-prepared team of Indologists and the most important traditions have been preserved.