Representation of religion in the textbooks and tutorials on history in the USSR during the period of “Restructuring” (“Perestroika”) (1984–1990)

Abstract

The changes of the representation of religion in textbooks and special tutorials on history for secondary school, written during the period of “Restructuring” (“Perestroika”) in 1984–1990 are examined. The period of “Restructuring” was the time of crucial changes in planning and organizing many aspects of life, including writing school textbooks in history and attitude towards religion in Soviet society in general. Images of religion, church, clergymen and faithful people, which are displayed in different types of research for different purposes and audience (historical textbooks for students in school, as well as articles for representing methology), written and published in period mentioned above are represented. Transformations of images of religion and church during two fazes – 1984–1988 and 1988–1990 are discovered. It is stated that the textbooks of later faze demonstrated further and more crucial changes of images of religion, clergymen and faithful people. At the same time it is proved that the content of school textbooks and tutorials for teachers of this period reflected the contradictory nature of the era when the proclaimed principle of freedom of alternative thinking regarding belief in God was limited by necessity to continue to adhere to the Marxist-Leninist ideology. The connections between new laws in education and changes in ideology, officially published by the Communist Party under great inspiration of Gorbachov, the leader in the Soviet Union during the period of “Perestroika” as well as crucial changes in representation of history and religion as a part of the history are explained. It is discovered that transformations of images of religion in textbooks and tutorials on history in the USSR during the period of “Restructuring” demonstrated sufficient samples of changes in attitude towards religion in the Soviet society. Different aspects of religious life were no longer displayed through longline pursued conception of atheism in the USSR. Examples of the representation of religious life in the educational historical narrative traced a gradual rethinking of the status and perception of religion in Soviet society as a whole, which at that time partially got rid of atheistic stereotypes.Key words: religion, church, clergy, parishioners, “Restructuring”, tutorials, textbooks