On the topicality of the ethnology of Sovietness in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

The article elucidates the establishment of a new direction of ethnological research in the Republic of Moldova – “Ethnology of Sovietness”, which refers to the research of „Soviet culture” from an ethnological perspective. The very term Sovietness means the directed transformations of the Soviet tradition and culture created by the totalitarian communist system in the USSR. The article also reflects the fact that some researchers approach Soviet culture as a „specific traditional culture” and opt for safeguarding it, as is the case with all traditional cultures, while other researchers appreciate Soviet culture as repressive and exclusive, inauthentic, created on false utopian ideological principles, meant to build a new social and cultural community. In the author’s opinion, in a democratic society, the culture created in totalitarianism can no longer survive without being ideologically nurtured, and without being imposed by dictation. However, elements of Soviet culture are still perpetuated to this day. And, the mission of „Ethnology of Sovietness” is not to preserve a totalitarian culture, but to elucidate the guided transformations that have taken place, the mechanisms of influence on social and ethno-cultural identity, the invented Soviet tradition, everyday life, etc., in order to understand the authentic cultural values of today, which can develop the individual and communities based on the cultural matrix