Everyday Interactions of Old Believers with Adherents of Different Faiths: Current Prohibitions and Prescriptions in Texts and Practices

Slavic & Jewish Cultures Dialogue Similarities Differences ◽

10.31168/2658-3356.2018.11 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 149-166

Author(s):

Natalia Dushakova

Keyword(s):

Sociocultural Context ◽

Old Believers ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Empirical Basis ◽

Verbal Rules ◽

The Republic ◽

Real Practice ◽

Everyday Communication ◽

The Way

The article analyzes verbal rules regulating everyday communication of the Old Believers with adherents of new-style Orthodoxy (often called Nikonians) and Jews as well as the way these rules are being put into practice. The author pays attention to personal interpretations of motivating prescriptions and explanations of the necessity to violate the norms in different situations. The empirical basis of the research includes interviews recorded in 2010–2017 in the communities of the Old Believers in the Republic of Moldova, including Transnistria. Field materials demonstrate that a lot of instructions only function in the form of knowledge about the rules, not necessarily followed by real practice. At the same time communities constantly elaborate ways of mitigating the rules, eliminating the consequences of their violation up to changing the rules, adapting them to the sociocultural context.

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The prenatal period and related prohibitions and prescriptions among the Old Believers of the Republic of Moldova

10.52603/9789975351379.27 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tatiana Zaicovscaia ◽

Keyword(s):

Common Sense ◽

Wire Rope ◽

Unborn Child ◽

Old Believers ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Evil Eye ◽

Preventive Actions ◽

Animal Hair ◽

The Republic ◽

The City

The author presents some results of her research of the indicated period, which was carried out on the basis of a specially compiled questionnaire in places of compact residence of Lipovans in such villages as Kunicha, Egorovka, etc., as well as in the city of Chisinau. There are a number of preventive actions and prohibitions aimed at ensuring the health and strength of the woman in labor and her baby. Often they are based on common sense, on pragmatics, but not always the informants could explain the reasons for certain prohibitions. A pregnant woman was prohibited from doing, for example, the following actions: sewing; stepping over a long (wire, rope) or sharp object; contacting with animal hair (dogs, cats, etc.); touching her own body when frightened (for example, during a fire); looking at the deceased through the window, etc. According to the testimony of informants, much attention was paid to protecting the woman in labor from the „evil eye”. And if this happened, then they were treated with prayers and herbs. There were also signs by which they tried to guess the sex of the unborn child. Before giving birth, a woman usually confesses to her spiritual father.

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A Local Midwife or a Doctor? Two Systems of Knowledge in Birthing Practices of Russian Old Believers

Folklore Electronic Journal of Folklore ◽

10.7592/fejf2020.80.dushakova ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 80 ◽

pp. 169-190

Author(s):

Natalia Dushakova ◽

Keyword(s):

Traditional Birth Attendant ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Beliefs And Practices ◽

Old Believers ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Medical Institutions ◽

Maternity Hospitals ◽

The Republic ◽

Complex Relationships ◽

Birthing Practices

The article explores complex relationships between traditional midwifery and medical institutions as two legitimate knowledge systems in the communities of Russian Old Believers in the Republic of Moldova and in Romania. It is aimed at discussing beliefs and practices around giving birth with the help of a local midwife from the same community, their transformation caused by the access to maternity hospitals as well as distribution of roles between a traditional birth attendant and a doctor. The article is based on oral narratives of Old Believers who used to be local midwives or gave birth to children with the help of such a specialist. The narratives were recorded by the author in 2008–2018.

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Maternity and baptismal rites of the Lipovans of the Republic of Moldova

The Journal of Ethnology and Culturology ◽

10.52603/rec.2021.30.05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 37-44

Author(s):

Tatiana Zaicovschi ◽

Keyword(s):

Rites Of Passage ◽

Transition Period ◽

Traditional Culture ◽

Old Believers ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

The World ◽

Mother And Child ◽

The Republic ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

In this article, based on interviews with informants from settlements of the Republic of Moldova with a compact residence of Old Believers (Lipovans), the features of the maternity and baptismal rituals in their environment are presented. The maternity and baptismal cycle contains a number of successive stages, including the customs and rituals that precede childbirth, the birth itself, as well as the subsequent stages associated with purification and socialization. The origins of the belief about the contradictory character of the female nature, inherent in ancient views of the world, originate in the concept of her duality, which is associated with the rites of passage. In order to prevent the influence of the otherworldly sphere, traditional culture prescribes a woman to observe the prohibitions associated with ritual impurity. Along with this, there are also regulations designed to protect the mother and child from manifestations of evil forces. The article describes the prohibitions and prescriptions for a pregnant and giving birth woman, the relationship of the latter with a midwife, the peculiarities of the choice of godparents among the Old Believers. The customs and ceremonies associated with the birth of a child are aimed at: 1) preserving the life and health of the woman in labor and of the baby, 2) eliminating the danger of the transition period. The author reveals the attitude of the respondents to popular beliefs.

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Political Dynamics of Urban Hodonyms: A Case of Chisinau, Moldova

Urbana - Urban Affairs & Public Policy ◽

10.47785/urbana.10.2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol XXII (2021) ◽

pp. 132-143

Author(s):

Anastasia Romanova

Keyword(s):

Collective Identity ◽

National Identities ◽

Capital City ◽

Current Work ◽

Political Elites ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Political Dynamics ◽

The Republic ◽

Everyday Communication

This paper researches the role that hodonyms (street names) play in forming cultural and collective identity and awareness. Street names are thereby treated as the elements that get transformed from everyday communication and interaction to symbols constructed by political elites to direct the collective history perception and memory. The paper explores the principles of forming a new onomastic space of the capital city of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau. Current work identifies some peculiarities of street renaming, grouping them into several categories. The main principles of renaming policies are also revealed. The analyses of renaming practices help understand the national identities that Moldovans are going to build, and the ideology that local and national authorities will impose.

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Identity convergence in the tapestry and painting of Ecaterina Ajder

Akademos ◽

10.52673/18570461.21.2-61.16 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 154-160

Author(s):

Constantin Spinu ◽

Keyword(s):

Folk Art ◽

Work Of Art ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Image Field ◽

The Republic ◽

The Aesthetic ◽

Easel Painting ◽

The Way

Ecaterina Ajder, representative of the early `80s of plastic artists from the Republic of Moldova, constantly opts for endowing the work of art with innovative stylistic values. Plastic tradition and modernity originally connect in her creation, contributing to the generation of current messages through image. Preferring to materialize her thematic and plastic predilections in the genre of artistic tapestry and easel painting, Ecaterina Ajder has drawn and consolidated over the decades her unmistakable stylistic facet, in which the insurmountable landmarks of folk art have found a favorable artistic fulfillment and integration into relevant contemporary creative trends. In the artistic tapestry, the painter significantly capitalized both the aesthetic expressions obtained from the classic weaving, and from combining it with various techniques such as felt and embroidery. When referring to the easel painting she highlighted the traditional aspects of structural-constructive constitution of the image field and, at the same time, the impressive artistic expressions, obtained after practicing mixed techniques, giving priority to the collage methodology. In the artist’s creation, both the conceptualization and aesthetic interpretation of the theme, as well as the way of operating with plastic means imminently contribute to the demarcation and supplementing of the semantic area of the work with high value expressions.

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Maternity rituals of old believers of the Republic of Moldova

10.52603/9789975333788.20 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tatiana Zaicovschi ◽

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Family Rituals ◽

Old Believers ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

The Family ◽

The Republic

The family rituals of the Old Believers of the Republic of Moldova remain poorly studied. This is especially true of maternity rituals. In comparison with other rituals of the life cycle – wedding and funeral-memorial, – the maternity rituals are relatively weakly expressed outwardly. The maternity rituals are divided into several periods: prenatal, birth and postnatal. In accordance with this, the author compiled a special questionnaire for conducting extended interviews with informants from villages with a compact population of Lipovans (primarily Kunicha, Pokrovka, Egorovka, Staraya Dobrudzha), as well as with those who live in cities, including Chisinau, where there are a large number of Old Believers. In our opinion, there is a need to analyze the differences in family rituals, including childbirth, in different localities. But this issue requires further study. This article presents some preliminary results of the study.

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