One’s Own or Foreign? Siberia on the Route of a Journey around the World in the light of Frigate “Pallada” by Ivan Goncharov

Abstract

The article attempts to interpret Frigate “Pallada” (1858) by Ivan Goncharov (1812–1891) from the perspective of the “self–other” opposition and the postcolonial theory. The methodological framework is based on the works of Tzvetan Todorov and Ewa Thompson on colonialism, as well as on Larry Wolff’s concept of the “invention” of territory. The author, a renowned Russian novelist and literary critic, participated in a circumnavigation of the globe from 1852 to 1855. The return route to the Russian capital led through Siberia. The article advances the thesis that, for Goncharov, Siberia constitutes a Russian colony at an early stage of development (a colonial laboratory). Goncharov’s work makes it possible to identify the characteristic features of Russia as a colonial state (in the sphere of economic, social and other relations) and to reconstruct the relationships between state authority and the indigenous population. Goncharov treats Siberia as a specific region of Russia (“after all, it is Rus’, although Siberian Rus’”), which differs from the European part in terms of climate, architecture, language, religion, customs and culture.