I just read a blog post by my fellow Russia ETA Nicky, in Belgorod, on the idea of being "Russian". Since the internet is all about conversation, I thought I'd write some of my own thoughts on the subject.

Nicky says:

"Most of my students here can trace their families back through Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and sometimes even as far as Mongolia. Somehow in the sea of my infinite ignorance I had lumped all of these countries together, supposing that their shared governance under the Soviet Union had somehow translated into a shared identity and sense of nationality. This is not the case. People here are quick to point out the small yet significant differences in culture, history, tradition, language and the main point – politics. The real kicker is that during the Soviet period all of the national boundaries disappeared, and people moved quite freely throughout the Union. But with the fall of the iron curtain rose the walls of separate nations, often trapping Turkmenis in Russia, Russians in Ukraine, et cetera, et cetera. Now you can find little hamlets of ‘immigrants’ all over Russia, working and living here as though they were home."

Just as Nicky has, I've talked to students who were born in Kyrgyzstan, whose parents came from Uzbekistan. Sometimes they are quick to point out that even though they may have been born in Central Asia, they are "Russian." But I also have students with distinctly German, Georgian, or Armenian last names who I suspect would not hesitate to call themselves Russian. Russia is, and always has been, a multinational country. Within Russia's borders there are many ethnic groups and semi-autonomous republics. Just check out this post by ETA Brendan on various ethnic groups singing "We Are the Champions" with traditional instruments, or read Riley's blog about life in the Republic of Tuva. Many of these peoples have been "Russian," i.e. citizens of Russia, for about as long as there has been a Russian nation, Soviet or otherwise. The question of ethnicity vs. nationality vs. citizenship is complicated all over the world. I just met a German guy, about my age, who lived in Kazakhstan until the fall of the Soviet Union. His name is German, and his family maintained their German identity despite at least one generation growing up in Kazakhstan (I don't know the details). At the first opportunity, his family moved back to Germany, and now he's here in Krasnoyarsk on the German version of an ETA. But there are probably other ethnic Germans who stayed in Kazakhstan, intermarried, and now might consider themselves Kazakh.

Some people's attitudes towards immigrants here seem to me to be very similar to some attitudes towards recent immigrants in the United States. It seems silly to me to say that a new American citizen is less American than someone who's family has been there for a few generations. The US is a nation of immigrants, and being American means being a citizen of America. Being Russian is certainly a little more complicated than that, but it is a similarly large, diverse, and often proudly multinational country (once again, check out those "We are the Champions" clips).

When I studied in Moscow, one of my teachers told us about some survey taken on Russian people's most and least "liked" nationalities. Topping both the "most-liked" and "least-liked" lists were Ukrainians and Jews. A lot of Russians are Ukrainian or Jewish or both, and I suppose a lot of Russians who aren't Ukrainian or Jewish don't like Ukrainians and Jews. But basically it all starts to seem a little absurd.

It has also been pointed out to me that, while there are nouns in Russian for a "Ukrainian," a "German," an "American," a "Muscovite," or a person from most places in and outside of Russia, there is no noun for someone who is ethnically Russian. The adjective "Russki" means Russian, the adjective "Rossisski" means Russian as in the country of Russia. There is a noun from the word "Rossisski": "Rossiyanin," which means citizen of Russia. But there is no noun from the word "Russki."

When you start to get into it, heritage and citizenship are a complicated combo in most countries, and probably especially in Russia. Maybe some of my Russian friends have some comments on this subject?