The Regional Aspect of Russian Emigration in China: Formation of the Collective Identity of Izhevsk and Votkinsk Residents

Abstract. The Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising in August-November 1918 predetermined the fate of the Bolshevik opponents in China’s emigration. The common goal of adapting to the new conditions of emigrant life contributed to the consolidation of Russian refugees. The commemorations, which played an important role in the life of the emigrant community, use symbols of military glory, paying tribute to the memory of significant events. Russian Orthodoxу, the Russian language as communication, and the reproduction, as far as possible, of former socio-cultural practices in the Russian emigrant environment became the basis for the formation of a collective identity dating back to the events of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, which united residents of Izhevsk and Votkinsk plants and the rebels who followed A.V. Kolchak and found refuge abroad. The memory of the uprising, reproduced at meetings, through symbols and in a historical narrative, became the basis for the formation of the regional identity of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents in exile.

Keywords: Russian emigration, Harbin, Shanghai, Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, collective identity.