PAGANISM, TRADITIONALISM, NATIONALISM. NARRATIVES OF RUSSIAN RODNOVERIE

Abstract

Introduction : Contemporary Slavic paganism is not the object under consideration in this article. The dissertation research of K. Aytomurtoh, which appeared in 2011 in Helsinki, is one of the most important foreign publications tackling the problem of modern Russian Rodnoverie. The paper highlights the issues of the genesis of the phenomenon of modern paganism; multiple narratives of Rodnoverie have been collected and analyzed. Materials and methods: Rodnoverie is considered by the author in the context of post-modern religiosity, as one of the variations of the NSD. The author tries to highlight the specific features of the Russian version of the movement, drawing an analogy with the West - European equivalents. Particular attention should be paid to the extensive field material of the author, collected in the process of direct interaction with the adepts of the movement. Results: in the last chapter the author presents the evolution of the study of the pagan movement which for a quarter of a century of its existence has undergone both ideological and institutional transformation. K. Aitamurto also suggests possible prospects of Rodnoverie in Russia. Special attention is drawn to interaction between Rodnoverie and the Russian Orthodox Church, which, in the opinion of the author, is a leader in the Russian religious structure. Discussion and Conclusions: despite rather uneasy historical conditions for the emergence of modern paganism and the leading positions of confessional churches in modern Russia the prospects of the national movement are estimated by the Finnish researcher optimistically. K. Aimomorto speaks about the possibility of further institutional and philosophical development of the new pagan religion in Russia.