(Dis)ability in rural late Imperial Russia

What does a 'normal body' look like? This question cuts to the heart of any society's imagining of itself, especially when taken alongside its obverse, the ways in which physical deviance from these norms is constructed and imagined. While Russian disability history is a developing field, work on the late Imperial and rural contexts is still missing. This project will explore social constructions of the 'normal body' and disability in Russian rural space at the turn of the twentieth century, with possible foci including: physical disability, hearing or visual impairments, the ageing body, childbearing, and learning disabilities. The project's core research questions are as follows:

- What were the principal conceptual frameworks in late Imperial Russia governing notions of the ideal body?
- How did these frameworks shape everyday experience and treatment of those whose bodies were deemed imperfect?
- Did late Imperial Russian notions of the body and 'biopolitical' practices relate to norms and actions in other states and societies at the time?
- How can this study provide insights into the relations between normative discourses of the 'able' body and the lived experiences of those considered 'disabled', that might inform present-day public debates and policy?

The thesis will use a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology to mine a newly available source base: the Tenishev published collection (Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Baranov and A.V. Konovalov, eds., Russkie krest'iane . Zhizhn', byt, nravy. Materialy 'Etnograficheskago biuro' Knaiza V.N. Tenisheva. Tt. 1-14 [Sankt-Peterburg: Delovaya Poligrafiya, 2004-2009]). This fourteen-volume transcription of ethnographic materials was collected between 1896 and 1902 by hundreds of rural correspondents for thirteen provinces in northern and central Russia.

These insights into rural bodies and everyday life will be complemented with other sources, including memoirs, letters, diaries and state records. Depending on the distribution and richness of primary source materials, regional case studies may also be utilized.