Visual anthropology of non-urban spaces
Based on Russian folk-horror films and television series
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21611586 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Olga Sergeyeva (0000-0002-8093-609X, Institute of Sociology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 229-250 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Zhurnal Sotsiologii i Sotsialnoy Antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1029-8053 • E-ISSN: 2306-6946 |
| Publisher | International Foundation for the Support of Social Research and Education Intersozic (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.31119/jssa.2026.29.2.9 |
| OpenAlex | W7167598865 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 12 |
The author examines non-urban space as a key element of Russian folk horror and its imprint on the mass geographic imagination. Drawing on the perceptually oriented film theory of T.Elsaesser and M.Hagener, the study offers a visual-anthropological interpretation of the narrative locations in the films. The empirical material includes Russian films and series from the 1990s to the 2020s, such as “Walk on the Scaffold”, “Dead Swallows”, “Swamps”, “Territory”, and Yakut productions “Maappa”, “Naahara”, “Ichchi”, and “Khara Dyai”. The analysis demonstrates that the non-urban landscapes in folk horror function not merely as settings but actively shape the viewer’s experience: forests, swamps, and tundra serve as threshold and cognitive spaces; the home operates as a permeable chronotope of threat from mystical forces; and local communities act as guardians of memory and social norms. The elemental force of nature and the remoteness from the predictable urban environment challenge the protagonists and propel their journey of self-discovery. The films’ sensory (haptic and acoustic) features translate traumatic social issues into tactile and auditory experiences for viewers, creating an “affective map” of the depicted spaces. The cognitive structures within the film narratives model associative thinking and highlight the conflict between rational mindsets and mythological taboos. The study concludes that folk horror produces perceptual knowledge of places that colors everyday encounters with real environments and sustains a re-enchantment of the landscape. Methodologically, the article links perceptual registers to the sociology of space and memory, showing how genre conventions activate patterns of topophobia, reproduce boundaries between familiar and foreign, and train viewers in practices of caution, respect for local norms, and ecological sensitivity in life beyond urban settings
Chronotope · Element (criminal law) · Figure–ground · Film theory · Folklore · Interpretation (philosophy) · Mythology · Narrative · Perception · Space (punctuation) · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Spatial and Cultural Studies
| Highly cited | No |
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