Constructing Masculinities: Bear Hunting in Tsarist Russia Toward the Fin de Siècle

Bear hunting is commonly considered one of the most dangerous forms of venery. As the ultimate proof of strength, power, and masculinity, it has been idealized beyond measure. Thus, it had a firm place in Russian society at the end of the nineteenth century. This pursuit of ursine creatures was widespread and not limited to the European part of the empire. To Siberian trappers (the promyshlenniki), hunting was more than an economic factor: it perpetuated relations of dominance and subordination among often violent and combat-tested men. For them, as well as for Indigenous communities, it served as a rite of passage and a school of character. Bear hunting was a male-dominated sphere, and women were explicitly excluded from the sworn hunting parties. This was not only due to its demanding physicality and the obvious hazards but also because of deep superstitions. To understand the origins of conflicting masculinities from venatic practices, this chapter looks at the manifold representations of bear hunting in Russian fiction, travelogues, and special-interest publications of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It unveils a strong cognitive dissonance in the often glorified perception of masculinity vis-à-vis the, in truth, rather timid actions of European hunters in Siberia.