This paper is devoted to the analysis of one of the practices of reproducing ethnicity: conversations about national cuisine. Descriptions of national cuisines help articulate a person’s belonging to a certain ethnic group and serve to attribute various cultural characteristics to their “own” group and those of the “other” peoples. This article explores the ways Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians living in St Petersburg think about their national cuisine. The focus of the study is on а comparison of these views as presented in semi-structured thematic interviews conducted by the author. Respondents who identify themselves with the same ethnic group from the South Caucasus generally think about their national cuisine in a way shared by the whole group, while the selection of main dishes differs significantly among the groups of different ethnic origin. It was observed that the general principles for organizing narratives about national cuisine were the same among the different ethnic groups. This includes the basic motifs, rhetorical turns, arguments and presuppositions (among them, ideas that there is a correspondence between ethnicity and eating practices, that national cuisine should be exclusive, family meals are national, etc.). At the same time, while ethnic food is a subject of national pride for Georgians and Azerbaijanis, Armenians do not seem to appreciate their cuisine in the same way.
The article is dedicated to Lyudmila Filippovna Vinogradova (1904-1985) – a member of the State Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR (currently the Russian Museum of Ethnography), who worked at the Department of the Peoples of the Caucasus since the end of 1930s until the early 60s. The author attempts to shed light on the previously unknown pages in the history of the Caucasian and museum studies in Russia. The objectives of the work include the study of Vinogradova’s professional biography in the context of the history of the State Museum of Ethnography (in particular, the period of the Great Patriotic War) and a review of sources on ethnography and the history of the peoples of the Caucasus made by Lyudmila Filippovna (clothing and photo collections, field reports and diaries). The key materials for the study are archival documents stored in the Russian Museum of Ethnography. The collecting work and scientific profile of Vinogradova in the ethnography of the Ossetians and the peoples of Dagestan (partly Georgia) were due to the need of creating expositions and exhibitions. Over the 25-year period of her activity, the researcher conducted seven ethnographic expeditions (in 1939, 1948 and 1949 in Ossetia, in 1947 in Belarus, in 1955 in Georgia, in 1956 and 1957 in Dagestan); in addition to the reports and field journals, 16 clothing collections (about 250 items) preserved, more than 8000 items and photographs have been registered. Most of these items have not yet been introduced into science. Without knowledge of the biography of the collector and researcher, a comprehensive scientific criticism of sources is impossible – which also applies to Lyudmila Filippovna’s materials. At the same time, the items and photographs she collected, field reports and journals are also an integral part of the story of her life.
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