Ancient Wisdom, Stigmatised Knowledge, and Sacred Landscapes: Ontologies and Epistemologies of New Age Culture in Post-Soviet Russia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Alexander Panchenko
Keyword(s):  
Basic Research ◽  
New Age ◽  
German Research Foundation ◽  
Sacred Landscapes ◽  
Anthropological Study ◽  
Section Deal ◽  
Introductory Paper ◽  
Religious Cultures ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Global And Local

Abstract The four articles in this section deal with anthropological study of New Age beliefs and practices in post-Soviet Russia. They are in part the result of a joint German–Russian research project titled New Religious Cultures in Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia: Ideology, Social Networks, Discourses, supported by the German Research Foundation and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. In this introductory paper I will briefly discuss the principal outcomes of this research as well as general analytical issues related to the field of New Age studies both in global and local (post-Soviet) contexts.

Advances and trends in bibliographic research: Examples of new technological applications for the cataloguing of the georeferenced library heritage

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Maggio ◽  
Josef Kuffer ◽  
Maurizio Lazzari
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Additional Element ◽  
Gis Applications ◽  
Coos Bay ◽  
Bibliographic Data ◽  
Online Catalogue ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Global And Local

In the age of digital archives and online data consultation, bibliographic research is considered as a key tool for supporting scientific research and study. The online catalogue allows the achievement of more ambitious aims and global interest thanks to its ability to associate data relating to the geographic contextualization of the catalogued editorial products (deduced from the title and content) with the search for more traditional bibliographic data through the inclusion of a specific and standardized ‘field’. Successively, the locations identified by the cataloguer are georeferenced by using GIS applications, which allows the simultaneous view of the distribution of global and local geographical contexts specific for each item owned by a library, archive or museum. The usefulness of such an application lies in the possibility for the library to have a greater awareness of its collection, thus permitting the acquisition of an additional element of evaluation in the management and planning of purchases and donations. In this way, the ability to filter the information from OPAC search will be combined with the basic research carried out by the user by selecting only the libraries in possession of works related to a specific geographical context, involved in different specific studies (literature, landscape, environment). Although this ability is still limited to a few specific studies, the use of tools that allow an overview of the geographical distribution of places could represent an operating standard through the definition of a special protocol. These tools are now used mostly in experimental studies in which the use of open source software has enabled the creation of maps. This paper shows the state of the art of the applications worldwide presenting experimental case studies (i.e. Coos Bay, Oregon; Basilicata, Italy) and also suggests different applications in the field of national and international protocols of library cataloguing.

The Siberian Village of Okunevo as a Place of Power and its Sacred Landscape

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Julia Senina
Keyword(s):  
New Age ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Natural Landscape ◽  
Sacred Landscapes ◽  
Specific Interpretation ◽  
The Village

Abstract The paper deals with contemporary places of power and New Age sacred landscapes in Russia.* It focuses on the Siberian village of Okunevo, its sacred sites, and their worshippers. Formation of this place of power was a result of the activity of individuals (both academics and adherents of new religious movements), combined with the specific interpretation of archaeological sites and the natural landscape of the area. The landscape around the village of Okunevo affects the interaction of people with the sacred loci and the ways the signs, symbols and narratives about them are created.

The Occult Underground of Late Soviet Russia

Aries ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Menzel
Keyword(s):  
New Age ◽  
Soviet Russia

Der Aufsatz bietet einen Überblick über verschiedene Strömungen des okkulten Untergrunds im spätsowjetischen Russland, insbes. im Milieu der literarischen Bohème, in und außerhalb von wissenschaftlichen Institutionen und in der volkstümlichen bzw. alternativen Gesundheit. Einflüsse östlicher Philosophie und Religion werden diskutiert, Probleme der Terminologie, Einflüsse und Wechselbeziehungen zum westlichen New Age.

scholarly journals The Relevance of Dostoevsky

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Vladimir Zakharov
Keyword(s):  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
The Past ◽  
200Th Anniversary ◽  
Mass Consciousness ◽  
Science And Education ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Russian Universities

The year 2021 marks the 200th anniversary of Dostoevsky’s birth and the 140th anniversary of his immortality. Literary anniversaries became a part of the Russian culture relatively recently. The celebration is usually held in memory of those who had already found eternity. The attempt to celebrate the tercentenary of Shakespeare (1864) and the centenary of Pushkin’s birth in 1899 marked the beginning of a new cultural tradition. The dates of literary anniversaries in the 20th century reflect the struggle between these trends: birthdays are gradually replacing memorial days. Anniversaries tend to be an occasion not only for understanding a writer’s significance in the modern world, but also for analyzing the trends and prospects of studying their legacy. The article provides an overview of the past anniversaries of Dostoevsky in Russia and an analysis of several articles from the first issue of The Unknown Dostoevsky journal for 2021. The special feature of Dostoevsky’s bicentennial anniversary is the competition held by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) “Sources and methods in the study of the legacy of F. M. Dostoevsky in Russian and world culture” (2018–2021), which resulted in the support of 28 projects by leading Russian scientists. They will result in the publication of an unprecedented corpus of studies on Dostoevsky’s biography, philosophy, creativity, textual criticism and poetics. In post-Soviet Russia, the gap between Dostoevsky studies and mass consciousness, science and education is apparent. Moreover, technologies to counteract Dostoevsky’s influence on the modern Russian person are still operating. Reading and studying Dostoevsky remains the privilege of philologists, whose number in Russian universities has been drastically reduced with no prospects of the development of continuous humanitarian education. Nevertheless, despite influential opponents, Dostoevsky represents Russia, the Karamazovs are the most famous Russian surname, and today, just like 150 years ago, the prophet and apostle Dostoevsky conveys the word of truth and veracity to the world.

scholarly journals Studying Russian Religion Since the Collapse of Communism

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-318
Author(s):  
Heather J. Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Lived Religion ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Religious Cultures ◽  
Soviet Russia

This review article surveys the field of the religious history of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. Increased accessibility to the archives in the early 1990s coincided with historiographical developments such as the “new cultural history” and the “lived religion” approach to the study of religious cultures, favouring a renewed interest in religious topics. The article argues that the lived religion approach has allowed scholars to rethink the classic question of the relationship between church and state, to demonstrate the significance of religion to the social, intellectual, and political transformations experienced in late imperial and early Soviet Russia, and to reconceptualize Russian Orthodoxy’s relationship with modernization and modernity. This research demonstrates the need to correct the traditional neglect of the Orthodox experience in histories of religion in Europe and in theorizing religious change and secularization in the modern era.

Former bay of the desiccating Aral Sea as the newly formed world’s largest heliothermal lake 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Izhitskiy ◽  
Georgiy Kirillin ◽  
Igor Goncharenko ◽  
Abilgazy Kurbaniyazov ◽  
Peter Zavialov
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Extreme Temperature ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Cold Winter ◽  
Antarctic Lake ◽  
German Research Foundation ◽  
German Research

<p>The Aral Sea desiccation is the worst aquatic ecological disaster of the last century, important for understanding the worldwide trends to degradation of arid lakes under water use and climate change. Formerly the fourth largest lake worldwide, the Aral Sea has lost ~90% of its water since the early 1960s due to irrigation in its drainage basin. Basing on field observations and numerical simulations, we show that the former bay of the Aral Sea — Chernyshev — turned to a meromictic heliothermal water body with extreme temperature, light and chemical regimes. The heliothermal regime of Chernyshev keeps the deep monimolimnion warm (about 15-16°C) throughout cold winter. Among less than 30 heliothermal waters worldwide, Chernyshev with its area of ~80-90 km<sup>2</sup> is the largest heliothermal lake, the second one being permanently ice-covered Antarctic lake Vanda. Chernyshev is also the youngest heliothermal lake, emerged within the last half-century. Seasonal themal cycle of the basin, scenarios of its formation and possible consequences for the ecosystem are discussed.</p><p>The study is funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR project № 20-55-12007) and German Research Foundation (DFG KI 853-16/1).</p>

scholarly journals FROM STREET DANCES AND 'BREAKING' TO NIGHT CLUBBING: POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT AS CULTURAL AND SYMBOLIC CAPITAL IN CONTEMPORARY ATHENS

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Koutsougera
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Symbolic Capital ◽  
Popular Entertainment ◽  
Anthropological Study ◽  
Cultural Forms ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Local Discourses ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Global And Local

This paper is an anthropological portrayal of two cultural forms of popular entertainment, with a central emphasis on their dance practices: hip hop dance styles and night clubbing. Their main components are discussed in relation to emotions, materials and regulatory language and how these surround the sense of authenticity of the self, grounding the notion of the popular. Breakdance, street dances of the Athens hip hop scene and night clubbing practices in the western suburbs of Athens unravel in a descriptive manner in order to illuminate their interwoven elements in terms of authenticity and the permutations of the popular. The cultural and symbolic agendas of the subjectivities and collectivities engaged in these popular cultural forms unveil, along with the ways global and local discourses intersect, to produce a territory for identity formation. By highlighting the key aspects of popular entertainment in contemporary Greece, the aim of this article is to contribute to the anthropological study of popular culture by pointing out its role in the processes of shaping and performing subjectivity and in the production of authenticity. 

scholarly journals From Barbie to the oligarch’s wife: Reading fantasy femininity and globalisation in post-Soviet Russian women’s magazines

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Porteous
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Conspicuous Consumption ◽  
Women's Magazines ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Feminine Archetypes ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article demonstrates how an analysis of fantasy femininity sheds light on how norms of gender, class and national identity reflect global and local cross-cultural currents in post-Soviet Russia. Drawing on a discourse analysis of women’s magazines and in-depth interviews with readers, it shows how, in the globalised post-Soviet cultural landscape, fantasy femininity represents both change and continuity. Feminine archetypes in women’s magazines, from fairytale princesses to Barbie dolls, reflect a wider post-Soviet cultural hybridisation and are an example of how Western women’s magazines have adapted to the Russian context. Furthermore, the article highlights readers’ ambiguous attitudes towards post-Soviet cultural trends linked to perceived Westernisation or globalisation, such as individualism, conspicuous consumption and glamour.

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