Fiction as a Source of Information about Traditional Medicine among the Eastern Slavs in the Russian Far East

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2022-2/162-173

Abstract

After the mass migration from the central regions to the Far East, the Eastern Slavs found themselves in an unusual ethnocultural and ecological environment. The new settlers faced a lack of medical care, so the methods of traditional medicine adapted to the Far Eastern conditions were in particular demand. The medical traditions of migrants have not been studied comprehensively yet, although there have been profound studies of individual aspects of folk medical practices. The article attempts to use fiction as a source for studying traditional medicine of the Eastern Slavs in the Far East. For the analysis we selected the works of writers from the Far East who traveled and studied their native land. It is concluded that fiction by Far Eastern writers can be an additional source of information about folk medicine of Slavic settlers in their interaction with the local population, other settlers, and adaptation to a new cultural and ecological environment. In some cases, fiction can encourage revision of the already known information.