Antropologicheskij forum, 2016, no. 31

“IS IT THE END FOR THE CRIMEA?” INTERPRETATIONS OF THE LOCAL CATASTROPHES OF THE 20th CENTURY IN FOLKLORE AND MEDIAS

Aleksey Popov

V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University
4 Prospect Akademika Vernadskogo, Simferopol, Russia
popalex79()mail.ru

Abstract: This article provides a comparative analysis of official and unofficial interpretations of two local disasters of the 20th century connected with the Crimea: the earthquakes of 1927 and the cholera epidemic of 1970. Using these events of force majeure as an example, the author attempts to demonstrate the interrelation between a real plot, its description in the Soviet press, and its reconsideration in rumours and city folklore stories. The author comes to the conclusion that the standard model of Soviet media coverage of the disaster was meant to perform three main functions: informational proper (chronicle), informational and educational (explain), and organisational (mobilise). The synthesis of all these functions created a situation of so-called “informational paternalism”: the authorities tried to use the media not only to protect audience from disturbing moods and panic actions. They also used it to create an optimal model of behaviour in these circumstances, and to mobilise citizens to complete certain urgent tasks to fight against the consequences of the disaster. In this situation, withholding information about the disaster limited the explanatory and mobilising functions. The desire to overcome this contradiction forced the Soviet media to use euphemisms, and distort a number of true cause-and-effect relationships (which was especially evident during cholera epidemic of 1970). However, the official information portrayal of the events seemed incomplete and contradictory. It induced the Soviet citizens to supplement the official picture of the disaster with informal sources like rumours, jokes, and rhymed texts. In response to the mobilisation efforts of mass media, the population also used alternative practices of salvation / protection against danger.

Keywords: earthquake, cholera, mass media, rumours, disaster jokes, city folklore, information paternalism, the Crimea, the USSR.

To cite: Popov A., '“Ne konets li Krymu?”: interpretatsii katastrof XX v. v folklore i media' [“Is It the End for the Crimea?” Interpretations of the Local Catastrophes of the 20th Century in Folklore and Medias], Antropologicheskij forum, 2016, no. 31, pp. 155–179.

URL: http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/031/popov.pdf