Themes of Ego-­Document Publications in Siberia, 1920s–1930s

In the 1920s and 1930s, Siberia experienced major transformations caused by revolutions, the Civil War, and then large-scale collectivization and industrialization. These events radically altered the sociocultural landscape of the region. The foundations of book publishing shifted, a unified publishing system began to emerge, and the thematic focus of books changed. The publication of ego-documents also played a significant role in the region's publishing process. During the abovementioned years, those texts became instruments for shaping collective consciousness in the context of the policies of the new state. The purpose of this article is to examine the thematic composition of ego-documents published as separate editions in Siberia in the 1920s -30s. The article focuses on two major trends in the publication of ego-documents in Siberia related to the need for ideological and economic strengthening of the new state. The first one was determined by the activities of the Historical Party Commission (Istpart) and its regional branches, which collected and published memoirs of the revolutionary movement and the Civil War. In Siberia, the leading role in publishing was played by Siberian Historical Party Commission, based in Novosibirsk, but employees of Tomsk, Irkutsk and Buryat and other Istpart's branches also contributed significantly to the collection and preservation of materials for subsequent publication. The second publication trend of the period under review was linked to economic changes and the need to increase the pace and efficiency of industrial production and agriculture. Under these conditions, numerous brochures featuring autobiographical essays by leading industrialists, sharing their experiences, became widespread. These texts served a dual purpose: they served as a powerful propaganda tool and had practical application for a wide range of participants in the production process.

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