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Chekhov was not only an extraordinarily gifted writer, he was also one of the first 'self-made' Russian sociologists. His book 'The Island of Sakhalin' (1894) was a documentation of his extended journey to the far East of the Russian Empire. Sakhalin was a penal colony, dominated by prisons and settlements for 'free peasants' (those who already served their sentences).
Chekhov describes the alarming state of the penal system in the XIXth century Russia, the ways of living in penal colonies and a total moral degradation of the settlers. He masterly analyses the economic system of the island where illegal activities can only help settlers to survive if there is no harvest. Total prostitution by women is a norm.
In order to collect personal impressions Chekhov was looking for a direct access to simple people and so he arranged an impromptu population census. He tried to visit every house in every community. For the census he invented small cards to note basic demographic data for each person. Chekhov collected over 10000 of such personal cards and so he have interviewed almost every person at Sakhalin.
The influence of the civilisation on indigenous people - the Ainu and the Nivkhs, is among the highlights of the study. The birth rates of natives has been dramatically decreasing since the Russians settled down at the island of Sakhalin. Although the aborigines were healthier than the Russians and were not suffering from epidemics or wars, and though the local authorities were friendly or at least indifferent to them, the natives died out. The fact of the decreasing birth rates by indigenous peoples was also mentioned by Darwin in his 'Descent of Man'.
There migth be a psychosocial explanation for the extinction of natives. Even if the contact with the civilization increases the living standard and the medical care it often destroys traditional social structures and cause social stress. The fertility seems to be very sensitive toward it.
In order to collect personal impressions Chekhov was looking for a direct access to simple people and so he arranged an impromptu population census. He tried to visit every house in every community. For the census he invented small cards to note basic demographic data for each person. Chekhov collected over 10000 of such personal cards and so he have interviewed almost every person at Sakhalin.
The influence of the civilisation on indigenous people - the Ainu and the Nivkhs, is among the highlights of the study. The birth rates of natives has been dramatically decreasing since the Russians settled down at the island of Sakhalin. Although the aborigines were healthier than the Russians and were not suffering from epidemics or wars, and though the local authorities were friendly or at least indifferent to them, the natives died out. The fact of the decreasing birth rates by indigenous peoples was also mentioned by Darwin in his 'Descent of Man'.
There migth be a psychosocial explanation for the extinction of natives. Even if the contact with the civilization increases the living standard and the medical care it often destroys traditional social structures and cause social stress. The fertility seems to be very sensitive toward it.
An Ainu man (about 1890)
link to `The Island of Sakhalin´ (in Russian)
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