sikorsky diss. on russ-americans

[Sapief]

>
> What interests me is how does this very large group of people perceive
> itself, does it see/know itself as a community, with one or a set of common
> interests and what might those be? Does it have an interest in preserving
> itself in some sort of institutional way and with what sort of
> institutions?  How does it want to integrate or keep itself apart from the
> rest of American society?

These are very important questions. I've been looking at the
Russian-American community in cyberspace, and my guess is that Soviet
emigres, wherever they originate from, construct communal identifications
in a somewhat ambivalent manner. This is due to the fluidity of electronic
rhetorical spaces and perhaps, to the global influence of cyberculture
norms.  On the other hand, many of these web sites show evidence
of conscious attempts to "carve" a fixed identity out of the
electronic wilderness.

Some of this may not be unique to Russian speaking emigres, but
it does put some interesting twists into the nature of transnational
activity and also influences how this large group perceives itself.

>
> ______________
> >Serge Rogosin
> >93-49 222 Street
> >Queens Village, NY 11428
> >tel. & fax (718) 479-2881
> >e-mail: srogosin at aol.com
>
> Respectfully,
>
>
> Max Pyziur
> pyz at panix.com
>

Filipp Sapienza
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
sapief at rpi.edu