Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine, 1000–1900: A Sourcebook, ed. Valerie A. Kivelson and Christine D. Worobec

Abstract

In witchcraft studies the 1990s–2000s were fruitful years in terms of the publication of influential monographs and edited volumes, as well as proposals for new approaches to the subject. In recent years we have witnessed a prevalence of publications about witchcraft trials in previously ignored or neglected countries or regions of Europe. This new sourcebook on Russia and Ukraine, edited by Valerie A. Kivelson and Christine D. Worobec, fits perfectly into this trend, broadening the scope of knowledge about the specifics of witchcraft beliefs and trials in this East European region. The editors have collected and translated many extremely rich source materials that were previously unknown to an English-speaking audience, and a large number of these documents have never been previously published. Their aim is to acquaint their readership with the peculiarity of witchcraft trials, beliefs and practices in Russia and Ukraine—which were in many respects quite different in these two regions—in the context of their social structure, cultural and religious practices (in the Russian case, Orthodox, in the Ukrainian, multicultural and multi-religious).