The Russian Orthodox community is a relatively small and little known group in Australian society, however, the history of the Russian presence in Australia goes back to 1809. As the Russian community includes a number of groups, both Christian and non-Christian, it would not be feasible to undertake a complete review of all aspects of the community and consequently, this work limits itself in scope to the Russian Orthodox community. The thesis broadly chronicles the development of the Russian community as it struggles to become a viable partner in Australia’s multicultural society. Many never before published documents have been researched and hitherto closed archives in Russia have been accessed. To facilitate this research the author travelled to Russia, the United States and a number of European centres to study the archives of pre-Soviet Russian communities. Furthermore, the archives and publications of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church have been used extensively. The thesis notes the development of Australian-Russian relations as contacts with Imperial Russian naval and scientific ships visiting the colonies increase during the 1800’s and traces this relationship into the twentieth century. With the appearance of a Russian community in the nineteenth century, attempts were made to establish the Russian Orthodox Church on Australian soil. However, this did not eventuate until the arrival of a number of groups of Russian refugees after the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War (1918-1922). As a consequence of Australia’s “Populate or Perish” policy following the Second World War, the numbers of Russian and other Orthodox Slavic displaced persons arriving in this country grew to such an extent that the Russian Church was able to establish a diocese in Australia, and later in New Zealand. The thesis then divides the history of the Russian Orthodox presence into chapters dealing with the administrative epochs of each of the ruling bishops. This has proven to be a suitable matrix for study as each period has its own distinct personalities and issues. The successes, tribulations and challengers of the Church in Australia are chronicled up to the end of the twentieth century. However, a further chapter deals with the issue of the Church’s prospects in Australia and its relevance to future generations of Russian Orthodox people. As the history of the Russians in this country has received little attention in the past, this work gives a broad spectrum of the issues, people and events associated with the Russian community and society at large, whilst opening up new opportunities for further research.

A presente tese de doutoramento tem como objeto de pesquisa os imigrantes de origem russa no Brasil, principalmente na cidade de São Paulo, na primeira metade do século XX. A Revolução Russa de 1917 e a formação do Estado Soviético ocasionaram grandes mudanças na estrutura social da Rússia e produziram um fluxo emigratório inédito no século XX. As características migratórias dessas populações provocaram grandes debates nos países europeus e resultaram no surgimento de uma nova categoria migratória: o refugiado. No Brasil, os primeiros imigrantes da Rússia pós-­revolução começaram a chegar no começo dos anos 1920, tendo como principais destinos os estados do Sul e do Sudeste do país, principalmente a cidade de São Paulo, que se encontrava em fase de rápido crescimento econômico e urbano. Posteriormente, São Paulo recebeu mais duas grandes levas de imigrantes russos: os deslocados da Segunda Guerra Mundial, no final dos anos 1940, e os imigrantes russos da China, ao longo da década de 1950. Assim, as décadas de 1920 a 1950 foram o período de maior visibilidade dos imigrantes russos na cidade e dos processos mais intensos da estruturação de suas coletividades. Diante disso, a tese se concentra nesse intervalo de tempo. Num segundo momento, a tese se propõe a explorar o que significava ser russo em São Paulo nesse período. O trabalho está fundado na percepção de que nenhuma identidade é uma característica estável, mas um processo contínuo cujos resultados advém de uma complexa teia de interações entre o Estado, a sociedade, o grupo e o indivíduo. A tese, através de uma extensa pesquisa documental em arquivos públicos e particulares e com auxílio de depoimentos orais, busca identificar de que modo as formas de sociabilidade dos imigrantes russos em São Paulo foram fruto de suas concepções coletivas sobre seu pertencimento e sua lealdade nacional. A pesquisa identificou que a falta de homogeneidade nos percursos migratórios, e também nas concepções sobre o próprio pertencimento, resultou em uma comunidade de imigrantes marcada por constantes conflitos internos, com o Estado e com a sociedade no Brasil. Essa dinâmica comunitária, somada à postura repressiva do Estado à época em relação aos imigrantes, ocasionou grandes rupturas entre gerações e entre diferentes levas migratórias de russos na cidade, que impactaram as formas de sociabilidade dos russos na cidade até os dias de hoje. / The purpose of this doctoral thesis is the research of the Russian immigrants in Brazil, mainly in the city of São Paulo, in the first half of the twentieth century. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the formation of the Soviet State led to major changes in the social structure of Russia and produced an unprecedented emigration flow. Migratory characteristics of these populations caused great debates in European countries and resulted in the emergence of a new immigration category: the refugee. The first post-­revolution Russian immigrants began to arrive in Brazil in the early 1920s. The main destinations were the South and the Southeast of the country especially the city of São Paulo, which was in rapid economic and urban growth phase. Later, São Paulo received two others large waves of Russian immigrants: the displaced persons of World War II in the late 1940s, and Russian refugees from China, throughout the 1950s. Thus, the decades from 1920 to 1950 were a period of increasing visibility of Russian immigrants in the city of São Paulo and of an intense process of structuring their communities. Therefore, the thesis focuses in this period. After this first analysis, this thesis explores what it meant to be Russian in São Paulo during said period. The work is based on the paradigm that no identity is a stable characteristic, but an ongoing process which results come from a complex network of interactions between the state, society, group and individual. The thesis, through an extensive documentary research in public and private archives and with the help of oral testimonies, seeks to identify how the forms of sociability of Russian immigrants in São Paulo were a result of their collective views on their sense of belonging and of national loyalty. The research identified that the lack of homogeneity in the migratory experiences and in the conceptions of belonging resulted in an immigrant community marked by constant internal conflicts. This communitarian dynamics, coupled with the repressive attitude of the Brazilian State towards immigrants, caused major gaps between generations of Russian immigrants in the city, which impacted the forms of their sociability in the city until today.

A presente tese de doutoramento tem como objeto de pesquisa os imigrantes de origem russa no Brasil, principalmente na cidade de São Paulo, na primeira metade do século XX. A Revolução Russa de 1917 e a formação do Estado Soviético ocasionaram grandes mudanças na estrutura social da Rússia e produziram um fluxo emigratório inédito no século XX. As características migratórias dessas populações provocaram grandes debates nos países europeus e resultaram no surgimento de uma nova categoria migratória: o refugiado. No Brasil, os primeiros imigrantes da Rússia pós-­revolução começaram a chegar no começo dos anos 1920, tendo como principais destinos os estados do Sul e do Sudeste do país, principalmente a cidade de São Paulo, que se encontrava em fase de rápido crescimento econômico e urbano. Posteriormente, São Paulo recebeu mais duas grandes levas de imigrantes russos: os deslocados da Segunda Guerra Mundial, no final dos anos 1940, e os imigrantes russos da China, ao longo da década de 1950. Assim, as décadas de 1920 a 1950 foram o período de maior visibilidade dos imigrantes russos na cidade e dos processos mais intensos da estruturação de suas coletividades. Diante disso, a tese se concentra nesse intervalo de tempo. Num segundo momento, a tese se propõe a explorar o que significava ser russo em São Paulo nesse período. O trabalho está fundado na percepção de que nenhuma identidade é uma característica estável, mas um processo contínuo cujos resultados advém de uma complexa teia de interações entre o Estado, a sociedade, o grupo e o indivíduo. A tese, através de uma extensa pesquisa documental em arquivos públicos e particulares e com auxílio de depoimentos orais, busca identificar de que modo as formas de sociabilidade dos imigrantes russos em São Paulo foram fruto de suas concepções coletivas sobre seu pertencimento e sua lealdade nacional. A pesquisa identificou que a falta de homogeneidade nos percursos migratórios, e também nas concepções sobre o próprio pertencimento, resultou em uma comunidade de imigrantes marcada por constantes conflitos internos, com o Estado e com a sociedade no Brasil. Essa dinâmica comunitária, somada à postura repressiva do Estado à época em relação aos imigrantes, ocasionou grandes rupturas entre gerações e entre diferentes levas migratórias de russos na cidade, que impactaram as formas de sociabilidade dos russos na cidade até os dias de hoje. / The purpose of this doctoral thesis is the research of the Russian immigrants in Brazil, mainly in the city of São Paulo, in the first half of the twentieth century. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the formation of the Soviet State led to major changes in the social structure of Russia and produced an unprecedented emigration flow. Migratory characteristics of these populations caused great debates in European countries and resulted in the emergence of a new immigration category: the refugee. The first post-­revolution Russian immigrants began to arrive in Brazil in the early 1920s. The main destinations were the South and the Southeast of the country especially the city of São Paulo, which was in rapid economic and urban growth phase. Later, São Paulo received two others large waves of Russian immigrants: the displaced persons of World War II in the late 1940s, and Russian refugees from China, throughout the 1950s. Thus, the decades from 1920 to 1950 were a period of increasing visibility of Russian immigrants in the city of São Paulo and of an intense process of structuring their communities. Therefore, the thesis focuses in this period. After this first analysis, this thesis explores what it meant to be Russian in São Paulo during said period. The work is based on the paradigm that no identity is a stable characteristic, but an ongoing process which results come from a complex network of interactions between the state, society, group and individual. The thesis, through an extensive documentary research in public and private archives and with the help of oral testimonies, seeks to identify how the forms of sociability of Russian immigrants in São Paulo were a result of their collective views on their sense of belonging and of national loyalty. The research identified that the lack of homogeneity in the migratory experiences and in the conceptions of belonging resulted in an immigrant community marked by constant internal conflicts. This communitarian dynamics, coupled with the repressive attitude of the Brazilian State towards immigrants, caused major gaps between generations of Russian immigrants in the city, which impacted the forms of their sociability in the city until today.

La première partie de cette étude est consacrée au cadre institutionnel dans lequel s’élaborent les politiques linguistiques américaines ; la Constitution des États-Unis, ainsi que ses amendements, s’avèrent déterminants dans leur formulation. Depuis l’adoption de politiques linguistiques nationales dans les années 1960, l’influence de l’État fédéral se trouve encore accrue. Néanmoins, la politique linguistique des États-Unis demeure lacunaire. La politique linguistique de l’État de New York, étudiée dans le deuxième chapitre, complète en partie cette politique en intervenant principalement dans les domaines de l’éducation et du droit de vote. La politique linguistique de l’État du New York est déterminée, d’une part, par un antagonisme structurel Ville-État et, d’autre part, par la lutte des Portoricains pour le respect de leurs droits linguistiques. La dernière partie de cette étude consiste en une étude de cas ; quarante entretiens semi-dirigés menés auprès d’immigrants russophones révèlent l’importance de la reconversion professionnelle dans le processus d’intégration linguistique. / In a first part, this study analyzes the institutional framework in which American language policies are elaborated; the Constitution of the United States and its amendments appear to play a major role in their elaboration. Since the adoption of national language policies in the 1960’s, federal influence has grown further. However, the language policy of the United States remains incomplete. The language policy of the State of New York, which is studied in the second chapter, supplements it by intervening in the fields of education and voting rights mainly. The language policy of New York is determined by, on the one hand, a structural City-State antagonism, and on the other hand, by the activism of Puerto Ricans who mobilized to assert their language rights. The last chapter of this study consists of a case-study; forty semi- conducted interviews were carried out with Russian-speaking immigrants. As a whole, they stress the importance of retraining in the language acquisition process.