The Vows of Socialism: A Transformation of Religious Holidays in Rural Nechernozemye in mid-i940s - early 1960s

Abstract

Celebrating religious holidays was in the core of religiosity of rural Central Russia. Before the Revolution, the holidays contained a tension between the strict following of church calendar and the specific local sacral rhythm and collective memory. The paper explores the changes in the Soviet times, in particular in the postwar period until the early 1960s, when the tradition underwent a deep transformation. The paper draws upon the documents of the state Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Party and local institutions, Komsomol, as well as the ethnographic data. By arbitrarily moving the borders of legality in the religious field, the authorities modified the tradition: the holidays were accepted within fewer registered churches while restricting other practices. This led to the interruption of the local memory of sacred places, and thus the former organic link between liturgical and mundane practices was broken. The Festive date was recast as a secular pastime. The crisis of the tradition of holidays was completely secularized and transformed the entire peasant culture.