Antropologicheskij forum, 2019, no. 41

THE REPRESENTATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES OF THE YEARS 1991–2015 IN THE BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES OF MURMANSK FISHERMEN

Julia Kovyrshina
University of Tyumen
6 Volodarskogo Str., Tyumen, Russia
ykovyrshina()eu.spb.ru

Abstract: The paper focuses on representations of social and economic changes between 1991–2015 in the biographical narratives of workers in the Murmansk fishing industry. The author analyzes two types of discourse — the “late Soviet” and the intraprofessional — which differ in rhetorical strategies and referent time. Through these two types of discourse, informants describe economic and infrastructural changes in the industry and the transformation of power relations in the professional community. Using the approach of critical discourse analysis, the author analyzes the micro- and macrostructures of discourse and topics, trying to answer the following questions: what types of discourse are used by the workers in the Murmansk fishing industry for the self-presentation and interpretation of socioeconomic changes in biographical narratives? What functions do these types of discourse perform in the interpretations of informants? When — and for what reasons — do informants choose particular elements of discourse in their stories? Sources include biographical narratives of Murmansk fishermen gathered in 2015–2017.

Keywords: Murmansk, fishing industry, ideology of professional com munities, biographical narratives, discourse analysis.

Acknowledgements: The paper was prepared on the basis of the author’s participation in the research project “Russian Harbors of the Transarctic Route: Space and Societies of Russia’s Arctic Coast on the Eve of a New Period in the History of the Northern Sea Route” (Research grant by the Russian Ministry for Education and Science No. 33.2257.2017/ПЧ).

To cite: Kovyrshina J., ‘Reprezentatsiya sotsialno-ekonomicheskikh izmeneniy 1991–2015 gg. v biograficheskikh narrativakh murmanskikh rybakov’ [The Representation of Socio-Economic Changes of the Years 1991–2015 in the Biographical Narratives of Murmansk Fishermen], Antropologicheskij forum, 2019, no. 41, pp. 36–54.

doi: 10.31250/1815-8870-2019-15-41-36-54

URL: http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/041/kovyrshina.pdf