Words and Silences

Laur Vallikivi is Associate Professor at the Arctic Studies Centre and the Department of Ethnology at the University of Tartu.

List of Maps and Figures Preface and Acknowledgments Notes on Transliteration, Translation, and Bible Citations PART I: REINDEER NOMADS AND REFORMERS Introduction 1. Dynamics of Avoidance and Engagement PART II: CONVERSION OF PEOPLE, DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF SPIRITS 2. Trajectories of Conversion 3. Baptist Missionaries on the Edge 4. Destructive Persuasion PART III: SPEAKING AND SILENCE 5. Silence and Binding Words 6. Speaking Saves, Silence Damns 7. Pure Subjects Conclusion Main Characters Glossary of Selected Nenets and Russian Words Notes References Index

"A masterpiece! . . . Words and Silences presents an unusually rich ethnography on a part of a community in Europe's farthest Arctic Northeast, with a focus on an extremely difficult topic to do fieldwork on."-Florian Stammler, author of Reindeer Nomads Meet the Market: Culture, Property and Globalisation at the "End of the Land" "Vallikivi foregrounds speaking and communication in his analysis of the transformation from 'pagan' to Christian. . . . This is by far the most polished and impressive study I have read."-Alexander D. King, author of Living with Koryak Traditions: Playing with Culture in Siberia "Words and Silences: Nenets Reindeer Herders and Russian Evangelical Missionaries in the Post-Soviet Arctic is a valuable contribution to the literature on religious conversion and itt offers significant insights into the situation of the indigenous peoples of Northern Russia. I am therefore pleased to recommend the book whole-heartedly to all my colleagues."-Kirill Istomin - European University of Saint Petersburg, Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics