Ethno-blogging among the Evenks: Virtual Self-Presentation and the Theory of Social Dramaturgy

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2024-2/129-146

Abstract

The small village of Khatystyr, Aldan district of the Republic of Sakha, has recently become the center of activity of popular ethno-bloggers. Local bloggers on social networks tell the whole world who the “modern Tungus” are. The stories are told in different ways, voices, styles. Evenks talk about their lives, introducing themselves personally and their people, fighting for audience and openly competing with each other. This new type of ethnic self-presentation has become possible only in recent years, thanks to digitalization and the active development of cyberspace. Today, the significance of the problem of self-presentation in anthropology is reaching a new level. Ethno-bloggers are the new guides to the world of traditional cultures. A virtual type of self-positioning of communities and traditions in the first person is born. This paper is an exploration of what constitutes self-presentation in an evolving cyberspace. This is an attempt to analyze the self-presentation of Evenk ethno-bloggers in terms of the relationship between theatricality and reality, publicity and intimacy, “front stage” and “backstage”. The concept of social dramaturgy, developed in the middle of the last century by the American scientist Erving Goffman, was chosen as the scientific basis. How applicable is the theory of the pre-Internet era to modern times, especially in its authentic “Tungus” versions? How relevant is the theory of social dramaturgy in 21st century communication, in particular, for self-presentation on the Internet?