On the Issue of Ethnographic Study of the Russian Urban Population of the Kazan Province in the 19th – early 20th centuries

The article examines the features of the ethnographic description of the urban population of Kazan province in the 19th -early 20th centuries.The methodological and methodical approaches used by the authors in the 19th century are presented, as well as the changes that took place in the ethnography of the city during the period under review.The object of the study is the Russian population of the Kazan province, which made up the bulk of the townspeople for almost the entire century.The statistical parameters and cultural characteristics reflected in the publications of the studied time are noted.The authors focus on the fact that the formation of urban ethnography largely took place within the framework of the formation of national ethnography as an independent branch of knowledge with its own subject and research tools.At the same time, for a long time urban ethnography was not institutionalized within the framework of Russian ethnography as an independent field, which left its mark on modern research.The belated design of urban ethnography led to the effect of lagging development and slowed down the emergence of authentic theoretical approaches, and as a result, the formation of a specialized national school.