About the Journal
Welcome!
'Antropologicheskij forum' / 'Forum for Anthropology and Culture' is an interdisciplinary international journal for anthropology, cultural studies, and cultural history published by two of the leading academic institutions in St Petersburg, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, and the European University at St Petersburg, with the support of the European Humanities Research Centre, University of Oxford.
Our contributors and readers include anthropologists, archaeologists, folklorists, cultural and social historians, linguists, and museologists. The editorial board reflects this disciplinary spread, and includes scholars from USA, Britain, and France as well as from Russia.
The first issue of 'Antropologicheskij Forum' appeared in September 2004, creating a stir of interest and favourable comment. A review by a leading Russian anthropologist described it as 'a major event for Russian ethnography generally', and the sign of 'important and significant reforms' in the subject. All publications in the journal are peer-reviewed.
One of the main aims of the journal is to foster genuine dialogue between anthropology and cultural studies in Russia and elsewhere. We regularly publish original work by scholars from outside Russia. Four issues a year are published in Russian (in March, June, September, and December). An English-language edition 'Forum for Anthropology and Culture', containing selected material from all of the issues, comes out each winter. This makes outstanding work by Russian specialists in anthropology and culture available to a non-Russian audience. The English-language version, published annually, comprises a selection of the materials published in the Russian issues; however, on the site you can find English-language summaries of all the materials published in Russian.
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General Editor Albert Baiburin |
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Deputy General Editor Nikolai Vakhtin |
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Editor of the English Version Catriona Kelly |
Contents of the Journal
Forum
Every second issue begins with a round-table discussion of specific theoretical, conceptual, and/or methodological issues in the study of anthropology and culture. Topics so far have included: new directions in the study of anthropology and culture; the relationship between researchers and their research subjects; teaching anthropology and culture; fieldwork ethics; the past, present, and future of the ethnographic museum; visual anthropology; national identity in Russia, etc. Discussions are also sometimes organised around individual articles that have been particularly controversial.
Articles
The journal has a special interest in the anthropology and cultural history of Russia and Eastern Europe. Recent publications have ranged from urban culture (the Soviet school in the post-Stalin era, memoirs of the Blockade, attitudes to drug-taking among young people, the culture of the Leningrad city courtyard) to popular religion and other areas of 'traditional culture' (for example, attitudes to the word and language, the symbolism of textiles in the Russian village, the 'private' and the 'public' in modern rural Russia). We also actively publish material by Russian and Western scholars dealing with the archaeology, anthropology, and cultural history of areas outside Russia (for example, recent articles have included a discussion of the inscriptions on Easter Island, a study of Indian popular festivals, etc.). Proposals for subjects to be discussed in special issues or in a Forum are welcome: they may be sent to the editors (abaiburin()yandex.ru, catriona.kelly()new.ox.ac.uk).
Materials
We regularly include scholarly publications of documents from state and private archives, and fieldwork materials (folklore, life histories, interviews, etc.).
Museum
The journal regularly includes material of museological interest, e.g. discussions of the history of collecting and of individual collections, the ideological and conceptual issues in contemporary museum displays.
The Reviews section, comprising detailed discussions of recently-published monographs and collections, reflects the journal's commitment to international dialogue: it has recently covered material published in German and French, as well as in Russian and English. Other regular sections include Conference Reports, and Personalia (e.g. obituaries, interviews with leading Russian and non-Russian scholars).
