Dacha Area of the Coast of the Gulf of Finland as a Space of Cross-Cultural Relationship (1899–1914)

Cross-cultural studies provide an important component of valid generalizations about human societies and rely on constant rethinking and reintegration with other branches of anthropology and the comparative social sciences. It is natural that the most striking examples of cross-cultural interactions took place in the border areas inhabited by citizens of neighboring states. In this context, the territory of the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which began to be built up with dachas in the second half of the 19th century and became popular among the inhabitants of St. Petersburg, is exceedingly remarkable. The close interaction of the Finnish and Russian populations fell on a period of political instability: the limitation of Finland's autonomy, the Revolution and the Civil War adjusted the nature of relations on the territory against the background of the formation of Finnish national identity. Despite certain difficulties and conflicts, Finland became an important place for the inhabitants of the capital of the Russian Empire, who began to consider the neighboring country and its culture not only as a resort, but also as a subject of study and popularization, which could not but affect the sources of personal origin, periodicals and guidebooks of the described period in Russian and Finnish. The article attempts to reconstruct cross-cultural ties in the dacha area on the basis of original sources and to determine the nature of the relationship of the region under study. The practical significance of the work is determined by the relevance of further study of dacha culture as part of the culture of everyday life; cultural heritage of various ethnic groups in the border areas, as well as the introduction into scientific circulation of Finnish-language material from periodicals, which is an important source for the study of cross-cultural influence.