Interaction. Interview. Interpretation

The article examines the competing narratives about the 1932–1933 famine in Kazakhstan, promoted by different mnemonic actors through documentary cinema. The aim of the study is to identify the differences in the representation of this historical trauma by comparing two films: “Asharshylyk” and “Zulmat”. The author conducts a narrative analysis, examining the thematic repertoire, narrative techniques, and visual strategies, as well as performing an analysis of audience reception based on YouTube user comments. The research demonstrates both common elements and fundamental divergences in the cinematic interpretations of this historical fact, which reflect ideological and historiographical controversies and the positions of specific actors. It is concluded that documentary cinema can serve as a significant tool in the struggle for collective memory, and the analysis of audience responses helps to identify current trends in the perception of this tragic event.

The article presents findings from a qualitative study of Russians’ perceptions of the potential consequences of fake news. Examining lay representations of such risk is crucial because these beliefs carry real-world implications and can shape behavior. Drawing on 119 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2024, informants problematize the prevalence of fake news and describe a broad spectrum of possible harms, which can be provisionally grouped into three classes of threats to public life: threats to social solidarity; risks related to individual well-being; and impacts on the functioning of social institutions. In the first case, participants highlight the dangers of political destabilization and the emergence of intergroup and interpersonal conflict. Risks to individual well-being are understood as the effects of fake news on people’s mental and/or physical health. Negative impacts on institutional functioning — particularly within the media sphere and electoral institutions — are discussed less intensively and with less emotional involvement. I suggest that informants assess the consequences of fake news by invoking readily available risk scripts, including scenarios of “panic” (“they are scaring us”), “division” (“they want to set us against each other”), and “manipulation”. Perceptions of disinformation risks are formed at the intersection of personal experiences of salient recent events (the COVID-19 pandemic, the onset of the Special Military Operation, and economic volatility), public debates that provide the language for problem framing and reinforce beliefs about the high prevalence of fakes, and broader socio-cultural trends such as the diffusion of therapeutic culture, polarization, and societal fragmentation. Overall, representations of the consequences of fake news are context-dependent and are often articulated through examples drawn from the current news agenda.

The article addresses the problem of delineating the boundaries of research subjectivity in the course of ethnographic work. Separating the roles of the researcher-as-fieldworker and the researcher-as-theorist is proposed as a methodological experiment that enables a deeper analysis of empirical material. As an empirical case, the authors draw on observation diaries collected during fieldwork in a neo-Pentecostal congregation in St. Petersburg. Based on theoretical analysis within a phenomenological approach, and through self-reflection on the positions of the researcher-as-fieldworker and the researcher-as-theorist, the study identifies the specificities of analyzing empirical data and of overlaying the lifeworld of everyday life (A. Schutz) onto the worlds of science and religion. It shows how the boundaries of research subjectivity are reassembled—how the researcher’s stance leads to the understanding and conceptualization of the community’s lifeworld through mental processes of rapprochement, conflict, or divergence with the lifeworld and position of respondents (neo-Pentecostals).The article addresses the problem of delineating the boundaries of research subjectivity in the course of ethnographic work. Separating the roles of the researcher-as-fieldworker and the researcher-as-theorist is proposed as a methodological experiment that enables a deeper analysis of empirical material. As an empirical case, the authors draw on observation diaries collected during fieldwork in a neo-Pentecostal congregation in St. Petersburg. Based on theoretical analysis within a phenomenological approach, and through self-reflection on the positions of the researcher-as-fieldworker and the researcher-as-theorist, the study identifies the specificities of analyzing empirical data and of overlaying the lifeworld of everyday life (A. Schutz) onto the worlds of science and religion. It shows how the boundaries of research subjectivity are reassembled—how the researcher’s stance leads to the understanding and conceptualization of the community’s lifeworld through mental processes of rapprochement, conflict, or divergence with the lifeworld and position of respondents (neo-Pentecostals). An important outcome of the study is the testing of a general framework for working with ethnographic field data, which is pertinent in the context of project-based science and interdisciplinary research.

The article positions the diary method as a relevant tool for qualitative sociological research. It analyzes its theoretical foundations, key characteristics (regularity, personal nature, and synchronicity), evolution from personal records to a scientific instrument, and main types (unsolicited and solicited diaries). Methodological aspects of applying solicited diaries are examined in detail: their variations (time-based/event-based, degree of structure, media formats), advantages (proximity to lived experience, reduced recall bias, access to routines, flexibility) and challenges (respondent burden, instruction design, ethical considerations). Particular attention is given to time-use diaries as the optimal instrument for studying temporal expenditures, specifically parental time. As an illustrative application, a comprehensive methodology for studying the resocialization of mothers after maternity leave is proposed. This methodology combines an adapted digital time-use diary (via a Telegram bot) with narrative and diary interviews.