The image of Slavdom through the example of the first wave of Russian emigration to France

It is often considered that the Slavic world is part of the territory that used to be the USSR, and the image of Slavdom belongs strictly to those who inhabit said territory. In reality, beyond the ex-USSR live a large amount of different Slavic communities (France, Germany, USA, Argentina, China, etc.), who are also concerned by how the image of Slavdom is transformed over time. The authors take one of such communities, probably one of the most known - the Russian community in France. Using one of its main constituents - the first wave of emigration and its descendants as an example, they try to educe the image of Slavdom beyond the «common» Slavic world. During the civil war that ensued after the Revolution of 1917, many of the people of the ex-Russian Empire were forced to leave their homeland and move to other countries. According to the calculations of the «Association of Russians in France» from the 1 million of emigrants that left the country, over one quarter settled in France between 1925-1926. Most of them settled in Paris and its periphery and formed there a Russian community. To educe the image of Slavdom, the authors use the definition of Russianness in the rhetoric of the old and young generation of the first wave of Russian emigration. For the old generation, the authors base their research on their memoirs. To have a larger selection the authors use the memoirs of different social groups, from the high aristocracy to the middle class. As for the young generation, the research is based on articles that address said subject on websites and social media that are part of the modern Russian community in France. The fact that said Russian community exists to this day and that it's members continue to actively interact within it, would suggest that the descendants of the first wave of emigration managed to preserve their Russian identity, that their ancestors desperately wanted to preserve. The researched proved that the French integrative policy was very successful and despite the fact they actively partake in the life of the community, most of the descendants consider themselves as mainly French and see their Russian roots as a non-determinant part of themselves. Despite that fact, the authors managed to isolate the image of the «Russian» in the conscious of the members of the first wave of emigration. It's the image of a conservator of Russian faith, culture, language and first and foremost of Russian values. And despite their «Frenchness», in their will to defend the main European values, the authors find that long forgotten Russianness in the modern generation of the Russian community.

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