scholarly journals Stained Glasses and Coloured Lenses: The Pussy Riot Case as a Critical Issue for Multidisciplinary Scholarly Investigations

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katya Tolstaya

The Pussy Riot performance and the ensuing case posed a challenge not only to power structures in Russia, but also to scholars studying post-traumatic post-Soviet Russia. The case exposed the complex of ideology, image- and myth-forming on all societal levels, not least regarding the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and church-state relations. This essay proposes a kaleidoscopic approach in order to ask how to get to the real persons beyond the images. At the same time it discusses epistemological limits of scholarly engagement with the ‘other’ by scrutinising the question of objectivity and normativity in the humanities and the deficit of approaches like the insider/outsider dichotomy and the linguistic and narrative turns. Given the heterogeneity of present-day Orthodoxy, there is no identifiable Orthodox ‘other’ or ‘insider’; and this leads to the question how to define ‘Orthodoxy’ itself. The essay thus identifies a paradox which is yet to be solved.

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
Даниил (Василенко)

Литургия свт. Василия Великого согласно ныне принятому Уставу в Русской Православной Церкви совершается десять раз в году. Два из них приходятся на навечерия двух схожих по уставу праздников - Рождества Христова и Богоявления. Однако, в случае совпадения навечерия с субботой или воскресеньем, Литургия свт. Василия Великого совершается в самый день праздника. Прямого ответа на вопрос, почему так происходит, в литургической литературе нет. В статье даётся ответ на этот вопрос с позиции логики богослужебного устава. При этом рассматривается уставной статус богослужебных чинов, образующих затруднительный казус. То есть, сравниваются богослужебные чины навечерий Рождества Христова и Богоявления с чинами субботнего и воскресного дней. В результате этого сравнения делается вывод о том, что причиной переноса является, с одной сто роны, логика устава, не позволяющая отменить богослужебные чинопоследования субботы и воскресенья в пользу более низких по уставному статусу навечерий праздников. А с другой стороны, совершенно отменить богослужебные особенности предпразднств Рождества Христова и Богоявления не позволяет уважение к древности этих особенностей. The liturgy of St. Basil the Great, according to the currently adopted Charter, is per formed ten times a year in the Russian Orthodox Church. Two of them fall on the eve of two similar Holidays holidays - the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany. However, in the case of coincidence of the reunion with Saturday or Sunday, the liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated on the very day of the Feast. There is no direct answer to the question of why this happens in liturgical literature.The article gives an answer to this question from the standpoint of the logic of the liturgical char ter. At the same time, the statutory status of liturgical ranks forming a difficult incident is considered. That is, the liturgical ranks of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany are compared with the ranks of the Sabbath and Sunday. As a result of this comparison, it is concluded that, on the one hand, the reason for the transfer is the logic of the charter, which does not allow canceling the liturgical ranks of Saturdays and Sundays in favor of the holidays with lower statutes. And on the other hand, to completely abolish the liturgical features of the precelebrations of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany does not allow respect for the antiquity of these features.


2019 ◽  
pp. 181-212
Author(s):  
Paul Robinson

This chapter looks at conservatism in post-Soviet Russia, particularly during the 2010s when there arose a “conservative turn” in Russian politics and society. This was associated with a revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, centralization of political authority, growing Russian nationalism, increased tensions between Russia and the Western world, and socially conservative legislation. These phenomena have made Russian conservatism a matter of considerable contemporary importance. The chapter describes multiple types of conservatism and shows that what all these groups have in common is support for a strong centralized state and belief in the need for Russia to protect its sovereignty and develop in an organic fashion, befitting its national traditions. Despite all the differences, as in previous eras, Orthodoxy, a belief in a strong central authority, and variations of nationalism remain at the core of Russian conservatism.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1084
Author(s):  
Caroline Hill

Over the past two decades, clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church have found a new outlet for morality policy discussions: news portals, blogs, and other sites that comprise a virtual public sphere of Russian Orthodox online media. One prominent issue discussed herein is abortion in Russia, a subject that has spawned debates about possible regulation and prevention measures. This article analyzes statements regarding abortion made by clerics and others serving in the Russian Orthodox Church via Russian Orthodox online portals. Using typologies for framing strategies established through research of morality policy and church-state relations in Russia, this analysis will show that rational-instrumental frames were employed more frequently than religiously based or procedural arguments, and frames expressing affinity and disillusionment with the state were utilized more often than those evoking church-state symphony or anti-government disestablishment. In addition, it will shed light on framing strategies between online portals with varying degrees of proximity to the Moscow Patriarchate.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Victor A. Shnirelman

A return of the Orthodox religion and a renaissance of the Russian Orthodox Church gave a way for politically active movements of Orthodox fundamentalists and monarchists. They were obsessed with the idea of the “end of time” and argued that the Antichrist was at the door. The article focuses on several national-patriotic newspapers and their interest to Orthodox prophecies about the end of time, which can be traced from the turn of the 1990s. It is examined who exactly, in what way and for what goals developed and discussed eschatological ideas. The major themes, rhetorical means and key words are scrutinized, which helped consumers to disclose the “enemies of Russia” and to reveal their “perfidious plans” and “harmful actions” aimed at the destruction of Russia and its people. A relationship between this ideology and theological teaching of the end of time is analyzed.


Bioethics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
I. V. Siluyanova ◽  
◽  
L. E. Pishchikova ◽  

Bioethics is defined by the authors as a form of knowledge about the permissible limits of manipulating human life in the range from birth to dying. A comparative analysis of the materials of the Conference in Jerusalem (2018) and the «Handbook on Bioethics for Judges» (2016) prepared by the UNESCO Department of Bioethics in Haifa, on the one hand, and Statements of the Church and Social Council on Biomedical Ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church, on the other, was conducted. It proves that bioethics as a type of modern medical ethics exists and will exist in the near future in conservative and liberal forms. Disclosure of their content contributes to solving the problem of finding compromises in specific situations of medical practice.


CLEaR ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
Diana Židová

Abstract Vasil Stefan Koban (1918-2007) was an American writer of Slovak origin. His cultural identity is, however, somewhere between Rusyn and Slovak, but all his writings were published in Slovak journals such as Slovakia, or Almanac run by National Slovak Society. The Slovak translation of his only novel, The Sorrows of Marienka, was published in 2006 with the subtitle Púť Slovákov za lepším životom do Ameriky. The book is about the life of his mother Marienka who after marriage to Ivan Kinda emigrates from Jarabina to Conemaugh, an American coal mine town. Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 is a revised version of the story in which Michal, Koban’s father and Marienka’s second husband, loses his leg in an accident and he must stay in a hospital for a year. In both stories Koban uses lots of Slovak words, but on the other hand, he mentions that Michal helped to build the Russian Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist in Conemaugh with other Galicians, his natives, since he was born in Habowa. Although he considered himself to be of Slovak origin, Koban is enlisted under Carpatho-Rusyn Literature in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. The article focuses on manifestations of Slovak and Rusyn identity in Koban’s two most notable literary works.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 667-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Papkova

The literature on church-state relations in post-Soviet Russia has been slowly but steadily expanding over the past two decades. The period since 2008, however, remains underdeveloped, as existing analysis has focused on specific issues rather than attempting an overview of the larger trends since the above-mentioned changes in the leadership of both institutions. Seeking to address this gap, this article explores the implications of the nearly coincidental changeovers in leadership in the Moscow Patriarchate and the secular state for church-state relations in Russia, both near and long-term. The first part of the article sets up the context for understanding the new church-state dynamic, by discussing in some detail the state of the relationship under Patriarch Aleksii II. The conclusions are that, under Aleksii tenure, the church could be considered a relatively weak institution, as it was unable for the most part to strengthen its position in Russia through legislative means. The second part focuses on the process whereby the new patriarch came to be elected in 2009, intending thereby to shed some light on Kirill I's leadership style and political agenda. The third part discusses concrete changes in the church-state relationship that have occurred on the federal level since 2008. The final section proposes some conclusions regarding the importance of the Russian Orthodox Church as a political actor in the contemporary Russian Federation, suggesting that despite the recent gains in the church's political fortunes, the ROC's position in society and particularly vis-à-vis the government remains vulnerable in key respects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Avanesová

This text, conceived as an interpretative case study, deals with the role that the Belarusian Orthodox Church plays in the contemporary Belarusian regime. In light of the fact that the Belarusian Orthodox Church is an exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the author will also look at whether the Belarusian Orthodox Church can actually be considered an instrument of Russian in Belarus. Within the research, the author will show that on the one hand, there are favorable conditions for the development of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. But on the other hand, although the state declares the de facto independence of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, any opposition activity on its part is seen as a threat to the state, which allows the state to interfere with its policy. This leads church organizations in such systems to become significantly weakened within this “cooperation with the state”, even though they have an influence on society and thus a legitimizing potential. As a result, the church is strongly dependent on the state and limited as an actor in civil society within the Belarusian regime. In addition, the author will also conclude in the study that it is difficult to consider the Belarusian Orthodox Church to be a tool of the Kremlin’s influence.


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