Приволжский федеральный округ: архаизация и неотрадиционализм в социокультурной жизни регионов округа

Abstract

The article provides an overview of existing research of the manifestations of archaization and neo-traditionalism in the regions which are part of the Volga Federal District (Ulyanovsk, Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Penza, Saratov oblasts, the Republics of Bashkortostan, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, and Perm Krai). The selection and systematization of literature is being done by a research team from the Institute of Fundamental and Applied Studies, Moscow University for the Humanities, in partnership with colleagues from other research centers throughout Russia. The materials are published as part of the research database “Russian Models of Archaization and Neo-traditionalism in the Conditions of Modernization” ( www.neoregion.ru ). In the Volga Federal District, like in the rest of the country, social transformation began in the 1990s. Tatarstan has been known for the most conspicuous effort to change the federal relations. A significant rise in regional identification has been observed here, with the structures of power undergoing “Tatarization” followed by “clanization”. A similar picture could be noted in other regions as well. Among the archaization trends developing under the conditions of modernization, we have singled out the prevalence of family self-government rather than the social one. Religious archaization in the regions of the Volga District was especially conspicuous in the areas where early forms of religious beliefs have always prevailed, e.g. among the Finnic (Mordva, Mari, Udmurts) and Turkic (Chuvashes, Kriashens) peoples. The archaic religious practices that have been preserved until now have formed the basis of neo-traditionalist religious forms. The religious beliefs of the Volga peoples have been centered around two main foci: an agrarian cult linked to rural communities and the family/tribal cult of ancestors. Nevertheless, the Russian Orthodox Church has come to be the overall dominating power in the region. An upsurge in politicized ethnic identity that began in the early 1990s has demanded that the regional elites come up with new ideological constructs. A search for pre-Islamic traditions has commenced, mostly taking the shape of folk history. Ideas of neo-traditionalism are being actively developed by scholars and artists in Russia’s ethnic republics; they get the support of regional governments and find their way into ethnic festivals. Among the Russian population of the ethnic republics, the folk traditions of the agricultural year are gaining a second life.