Material Culture and Bricolage: Russian-Speaking Migrants in Japan Who Make and Procure Objects

Abstract

this paper draws on data obtained through fieldwork with first-generation russian female migrants and an online survey of male and female russian-speaking migrants who reside in Japan. the research focuses on the migrants' material culture, in particular the objects that result from their 'do-it-yourself' (dIy) practices. I expand the traditional definition of dIy: for example, I extend the definition to include items modified to meet their owners' needs, thereby retaining the features of co-making, as well as items obtained outside the conventional consumer experience. uprooted from their familiar socio-cultural environment characterised by specific forms of material expression, migrants use dIy as a tool to restore this materiality in their new location, while having to rely on limited materials and specific consumption channels. In the study, these practices are approached through the concept of bricolage, which originates from lévi-Strauss's anthropological writings, to reveal the meanings enacted through the objects that the migrants possess. K e y w o r d s: material culture, russian-speaking migrants, bricolage, 'do-it-yourself' (dIy). t o c i t e: golovina K., 'material culture and Bricolage: russian-Speaking migrants in Japan Who make and procure objects',

How entrepreneurial bricolage drives sustained competitive advantage of tourism and hospitality SMEs: The mediating role of differentiation and risk management

“…From the RBV theory perspective, Desa and Basu (2013) observed it as supplementary to resource optimization processes, especially regarding strategic resources. Consequently, in strategic management literature, numerous scholars (e.g., Baker et al, 2003;Davidsson et al, 2017;Golovina, 2018) in different research settings have acknowledged entrepreneurial bricolage as a source of innovation that enabled SMEs to compensate for resource constraints.…”

Soil Within Us: An Autopedology of Migrant Family History and Mourning through the Medium of Soil

“…Some two decades after the events described by Alexander Chudakov, a different kind of interaction with soil happened. My close family member worked as a liquidator at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, as did some of the relatives of my migrant informants (Golovina, 2023), and so the following excerpt stood out piercingly upon my reading of Chernobyl Prayer: A Chronicle of the Future (2019[1997]) by Svetlana Alexievich (translation from Russian mine):…”

“…The scenery now evokes the scene then: here these people are, in front of me, tending to the graves. I remember that several years ago, I could still write that there had not been many deaths in the migrant community, and the ones that did occur were not necessarily visible to the community because the migrants were often buried by their Japanese family members (Golovina, 2020). I also remember Vika and Alexey, bygone friends I knew privately.…”

“…Will it still be about kinning with the previous generation of migrants? Will it be about envisioning one's own death in Japan andthrough placing a symbolic stake on current graves-one's future grave being similarly taken care of by future migrants (Golovina, 2020)? Or will grave-tending also be about mourning the ones who have recently left the community, even if their resting places are kept away from the migrants by their Japanese family members or they are buried in faraway locations?…”

“…As part of my anthropological research, I have been following for several years the activities of Russian-speaking migrants in Japan that are organised around the cleaning of graves (Golovina, 2020). Since this practice involves a considerable amount of interaction with soil (as well as plants and insects), the issue of soil stayed with me.…”