Siberian chronicles (translated by Yu.V. Zhychkova)

Aude Merlin, a professor at the Department of Social and Political Sciences at Free University of Brussels, shares her encounters with different people in Tomsk in October 2011. Her short stories draw the past and present experiences of the people and the city together, and contemplates their possible futures. Aude listened to the people's opinions regarding the forthcoming elections, their evaluation of the Soviet past and today life, as well as their inspiration, hopes and concerns. These findings were complemented by her observations of local people going about their everyday business, in cafes, universities, saunas, and on the street. Her understanding of the past and present were enhanced by additional experiences, such as an interview with the Director of the Museum of Political Repression, Vas-siliy Khanevich, and attendance at TSU documentaries on human rights activists Anna Politkovskaya and Nataliya Estemirova. Aude begins her work contemplating Tomsk as a 'closed city' but ends asserting that it is in fact an 'open city'. Her subtle observations and philosophical reasoning offer the insight of the experienced traveler and European specialist on Russia.

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