Грумант-медведь. Тексты Бориса Шергина о жизни поморов-промышленников на Свальбарде(The Grumant Bear: Texts by Boris V. Šergin on the life of the Pomor hunters on Svalbard)

Abstract

This article is a presentation of a few texts written by the author Boris Viktorovič Šergin (1896-1973), who was born in Arkhangelsk and wrote, among other things, a number of stories based on the oral tradition he knew from his childhood. This article focuses on the stories about the Pomor hunters on Svalbard. The article describes Šergin's portrayal of his ancestors in terms of morals, values and rules of behavior, and the way his stories implicitly stress the importance of certain values for people living in harsh conditions.

Furthermore, the themes of Šergin' s texts are compared with various Norwegian sources describing life on Svalbard, including the Russian presence in the archipelago.

The article also touches upon some recent views of the significance of Šergin's works for post-perestroika Russia and, in particular, for the construction of a Northern Russian identity.