oa Bears as pares: Some notes on bear stories in Zapinejie (Arkhangelskaya oblast, northern part of the Russian Federation) and the tendency to equality in human-bear relations

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The article assembles the narratives of Russian villagers in Zapinejie (Arkhangelskaya oblast, northern part of the Russian Federation) who encounter bears during their forest trips. The stories showcase that the bear, as opposed to other animals, is perceived not just as a beast but as a kind of forest owner who acts as humans do. In gatherers’ stories, bears act as animals who are unwilling to harm people. In hunters’ stories, bears are presented almost as human beings living in the woods, doing very similar things. Using the idea of “equality without equivalence”, I will broaden the notion of “tendency to equality” proposed by H. Walker for interhuman relations and expand it to include human-animal relations. Such aspects as “singularity”, “concreteness” or “love-pity-compassion” can be found in narratives about bears and in human-bear relations.