Language: French
This book explores the history of two field missions carried out in 1937 and 1938 by Boris Vildé and Léonide Zouroff to Setomaa, a region situated today on both sides of the border between the Republic of Estonia and the Federation of Russia. Its purpose is to make known the documents, the collections of objects and the unique photographs collected in this zone of contact between two distinct Orthodox populations: Setos, of Fennic origin, and Russians, Eastern Slavs. This journey back in time evokes both the history of the creation of the Musée de l'Homme, with its dynamic field research activities, and that of Setomaa and its cultural phenomenas. To this end Tatiana Benfoughal, Olga Fishman and Heiki Valk brought together French, Estonian and Russian researchers, whose own perspectives, sometimes divergent but always complementary, make it possible to put the scientific contribution of Boris Vildé and Léonide Zouroff into a broad scientific context.
Summary in French:
Ce livre explore l’histoire des deux missions de terrain effectuées en 1937 et 1938 par Boris Vildé et Léonide Zouroff au Setomaa, une région située aujourd’hui de part et d’autre de la frontière entre la République d’Estonie et la Fédération de Russie. Il a pour but de faire connaître les documents, les collections d’objets et les photographies uniques se rapportant à ces missions dans une zone de contacts entre deux populations orthodoxes distinctes : les Setos, d’origine fennique, et les Russes, Slaves orientaux. Ce voyage dans le temps évoque à la fois l’histoire de la création du Musée de l’Homme, avec ses activités intenses de recherche de terrain, et celle du Setomaa et de ses phénomènes culturels. Pour ce faire Tatiana Benfoughal, Olga Fishman et Heiki Valk ont réuni des chercheurs français, estoniens et russes dont les regards croisés, parfois divergents mais toujours complémentaires, permettent de replacer l’apport scientifique de Boris Vildé et de Léonide Zouroff dans un large contexte scientifique.
Tatiana Benfoughal, doctor of Ethnology, honorary research associate at the French National Museum of Natural History, is a specialist in European and North African ethnology.
Olga Fishman, a doctor of history, director of the Department of Ethnography of the North-West of Russia and of the Baltic at the Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg, is a Finno-ougrist, a specialist in popular orthodoxy and historiography.
Heiki Valk, doctor of philosophy, director of the Archeology Cabinet at the Institute of History and Archeology at the University of Tartu (Estonia), is a specialist in medieval archeology of the Baltic regions and in history and culture of the Setos.