A Study on the New Cultural Element in the Russian Far East

Abstract

This study aimed at considering the dynamism of the transformation in the image of tigers originating from the Russian Far East culture. Until modern times, there was no concept of tigers because they were not inhabited in western Russia regions, the base of the Russian culture and history. The expansion of the Russian territory, which had taken place from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, has tied the Far East into the Russian influence, and as a result, parts influenced by the new ecological and geographical environment have begun to be incorporated into the Russian culture. The migration to the Russian Far East has enabled the Russians to come into contact with the exotic natural object ‘tiger’, and the adaptation to the new environment has resulted in accepting the tiger image as their own country's culture. The tiger image as a new cultural element has taken steps of ‘occurrence-transformation-spread’ for over 150 years, interacting with the existing culture. The first official tiger image as a cultural concept can be found in the coat of arms in Vladivostok(1883) which was introduced by Alexander III. 『Along the Ussuri』(1921) written by Arsen’ev has the value of historical materials as a documentary in which tigers first appeared. The early tiger image had a horrible animal one with biological characteristics. A law has been enacted to prohibit the poaching of tigers with awareness of nature issues and their protection, and the tiger festival has begun as a cultural transfiguration of changes in the social recognition. Along with this, the advent of children's literature has led a tiger to turn into a cute and lovely animal. The tiger image accepted as a Russian cultural element has been embodied and modernized into a variety of aspects as a media content. Today, tigers are firmly established as one of the cultural elements that attempt to social integration while strengthening the identity and communality of the Russian Far East residents as a symbol of the region. So, this study has significance in that it illuminated another way in which the diversity of Russian culture is realized by examining the processes that the local culture in Russia are specialized as they adapt to the environment, with a focus on the tiger image originating from inherent changes in culture through ‘discovery’.