Television and Problems of Interpretating Cultural Phenomena Among the Vasiugan [Eastern] Khanty

The article investigates how television becomes one of the forums where the Khanty fight their symbolic struggle against a colonizing culture, which stands at a higher technological level. The scope of this cultural struggle reaches beyond the practice of watching television and results in more serious changes in the Khanty worldview. The article analyzes how watching TV verifies, modifies, and develops beliefs; how elements of Khanty identity are summoned while watching TV; and how television programs are related to people's time management.