Christian Europe Research Articles

Narrating Crisis and Continuity in Migration Debates in the Visegrád States

Narrating Crisis and Continuity in Migration Debates in the Visegrád States

A Commentary on the So-Called Defense of Christian Europe: The Fidesz Party’s Response to the Migration Crisis in Hungary

Abstract This essay examines the issue of migration in Hungary since 2015, focusing in particular on the way in which Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz government have mobilized populist fears of a migrant invasion as a key trope in their efforts to construct an illiberal state, and how in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in Afghanistan, they have continued to capitalize on populist (mis)conceptions of the so-called migrant crisis in the lead-up to the 2022 elections. Beginning with a description of Fidesz as a populist radical-right party, the essay examines Orbán’s response to the migration crisis in summer 2015 and concludes with an analysis of official Fidesz social media posts over a two-week period in September 2021. Confident in its self-proclaimed historical mission, Fidesz has used the perceived migrant crisis not only to argue that the liberal policies of the European Union are a threat to the future of European culture and civilization, but also to position itself as the protector of Hungary, and of Christian Europe more generally.

Focusing on Wounded Collective Identity: Toward a Regional Interpretation of Religious Processes in Central and Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Defending the value system of Christian Europe, defending the nation with the help of God, and defending the nation against nationalism. Three recent statements from three different countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Such ideas and avowals lay the provocative groundwork to take a closer look to the points of connection between religion and security.

ETHNOCULTURE OF THE MONGOLS IN THE WORKS OF ORIENTALIST N.Ya. BICHURIN

The article is dedicated to the role of a native of Chuvashia, an outstanding learned monk, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, founder of Russian sinology N.Ya. Bichurin (1777–1853) in the study and popularization of the ethnoculture of the Mongols in the XIX century. Mongol studies date back to the XIII century, the time of Genghis Khan, who created a vast and powerful Mongol Empire. It was a memoir of ambassadors and travelers, Western European Christian missionaries. In the XIX century, the center of world Mongolian studies was concentrated in Russia, where A.L. Leontiev, I.K. Rossokhin, Ya.I. Schmidt, O.A. Kovalevsky, A.V. Popov, I.P. Voytsekhovsky, P.Ya. Petrov and other orientalists were focusing on its problems. They studied languages, history, ethnography, geography of the peoples of China, Mongolia, Tibet, India, Kalmykia, etc. A significant trace in the study of the Mongolian language and ethnoculture was left by Professor of Kazan University O.M. Kovalevsky, a participant of expeditions to Transbaikalia and Mongolia (1828–1833), the author of grammar, anthology, and dictionaries of the Mongolian language. The Kazan school of orientalists included N.Ya. Bichurin (monk Hyacinth), the head of the IX Russian Theological mission in China (1807–1821), and a participant of ethnographic expeditions (1830–1831, 1835–1837). During 1828–1853 he published a number of fundamental works on Oriental studies, including on the ethnoculture of the Mongols and their neighbors: a translation of the “History of the Mongols”, the works “Notes on Mongolia”, “The History of the Four Khans from the Family of Genghis Khan”, “Historical Review of the Oirats or Kalmyks from the XV century to the present time”. He published more than a dozen articles in well-known Russian popular journals. Not all the judgments and conclusions of N.Ya. Bichurin on the ethnogenesis of some Eastern peoples are shared by modern scientists. Nevertheless, his works on China, Mongolia, Tibet, Kalmykia, the Uyghur territories to a certain extent helped the Russian state to learn about the internal and external problems of the Eastern countries and peoples, their original ethnic culture. The learned monk was sympathetic to the peoples of the East and predicted our rapprochement in the historical future. Laureate of four Demidov Prizes, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.Ya. Bichurin received well-deserved recognition during his lifetime. Our contemporaries, residents of Chuvashia, with respect and pride treat the heritage of the outstanding countryman N.Ya. Bichurin. Settlements, streets, museums are named after him, monuments and busts are built in his honor, state and public awards (order, medal, pennant, prizes) are established.

Latinity in Early Islamic North Africa

This paper explores the social function of Latin in the early Islamic Maghrib and the concerns of the local communities who continued to use the language beyond the Arab capture of Carthage in 697/98. By focussing on those Latin sources whose origins can be assigned to North Africa between the end of the seventh and the mid-thirteenth century, it considers evidence for the use of Latin as a language of Christian commemoration, worship, and education; the survival of Latin and then Romance as a spoken language in the medieval Maghrib; the role of Latin as at least a short-lived language of religious disputation between the region’s new Muslim ruling class and their Christian and Jewish subjects; and the use of Latin as a language of trans-Mediterranean communications. The language probably enjoyed a more robust afterlife in Islamic North Africa than scholars have sometimes imagined, yet the way in which Latin was deployed in mediating relationships overseas may ultimately have undermined sustained interest in the region by medieval European Christians.

Otpori stanovnika Bihorskog kadiluka Portinim reformama od donošenja Hatt-i Šerifa od Gülhane do reformi Omer Lutfi paše

With the French Revolution of 1789, a new spirit of nationalism flowed through Europe, in which the era of the national principle began, which will last until the end of the First World War. This principle also won in developed societies, as a result of which it inevitably had to be reflected in the Ottoman Empire, which was a heterogeneous community of peoples and religions. The wars waged by the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 18th century showed that the organization and armament of their army lagged behind the organization and armament of the armies of Christian European countries, which made it necessary to take certain reform steps to prevent the Empire's decline. Almost all structures were interested in the organization that dominated the social life of the Ottoman Empire, due to different interests. Due to the preservation of certain privileges, which the reform could violate, the most significant opponents of the creation of a new order were the Janissaries. The reform action had to first influence them as the bearers of the old military system, which is why it encountered a strong dam of supporters. Along with the janissaries, members of the Bektashi tariqat (order), who were their ideologues, were also attacked. The great social upheaval that arose as a result of the reforms that had begun was difficult and long. That is why it took about three and a half decades for the obstacles to be overcome and for the reforms to begin with the abolition of the mentioned military order, after which the Hatt-i Sheriff was proclaimed, proclaiming the requested freedoms, which was officially announced on November 3, 1839. This paper deals with this process at the local level and covers the period up to 1850, when the great action of the central government on a more organized implementation of the reforms proclaimed by the Hatt-i Sheriff of Gülhane took place, ie until the reaction of the central government against various types of resistance. In the indicated period, the implementation of reforms met with sharp and strong resistance from a part of the Muslim population in the Balkan kadiluks, and thus in the kadiluk Bihor, whose main city center was the town of Akova (Bijelo Polje). The other part of the population fully supported the start of the reform course. The division into supporters and opponents of the reforms was the source of numerous conflicts on personal and other grounds. Members of the ulema class had a great influence on encouraging the population to resist. In the conditions of pronounced ignorance of the rural population, which made up the largest part of the total population of the kadiluk of Bihor, the ulema were, to a significant extent, facilitated in influencing the direction of the process in the desired direction. In this sense, the population was often provided with inaccurate information regarding the demands and expectations of both local and central authorities, which misled them, which, at the same time, influenced the emergence of resistance among them. Forms of resistance ranged from individual rebellions and disobedience to local authorities, through tax refusals to open riots that required regular military forces to quell. Although the implementation of the planned reforms was aimed at overcoming numerous social negativities, such phenomena could not be avoided, which is why this period in the kadiluk area of Bihor remained recognizable by the numerous murders that took place then. The commander-in-chief of the Ottoman forces in the Bosnian eyalet, tasked with pacifying the rebel Muslim population and carrying out the reform to the end, was Omer Lutfi Pasha.

Nittel Nacht: A Jewish Christmas?

The history of Ashkenazi Judaism in Christian Europe, particularly in the earlymodern period, is the story of a religious minority subsisting within a threatening majority: its ability to resist cultural dominion and preserve its own cultural-religious traditions. One such setting in which this interaction materialized was through the religious calendar of the Christians. Specifically, the popular celebration of Christmas was a point of concern for the Jewish communities, and, in turn, became a vehicle for assault. While the tradition’s inception was formed as a means to counter the holiday, its actualization served to inculcate Christianity, its doctrines and its ethos, within the Jewish tradition. Thus, Nittel Nacht was an anti-anti holiday — its observance blurring the line between repudiation and celebration — which produced an everlasting bond between the two religions.

Kin Networks and Institutional Development

AbstractThis study provides evidence that strong kin networks are detrimental for democratic participatory institutions and that the medieval Catholic Church's marriage regulations dissolved Europe's clan-based kin networks, which contributed to the emergence of participatory institutions. I show that weak ancestral kin networks are positively associated with ethnicities’ democratic traditions in the past and countries’ democracy scores today. At the same time, medieval Church exposure predicts weak kin networks across countries, European regions and ethnicities. In a historical difference-in-difference analysis, I provide evidence that exposure to the Church contributed to the formation of medieval communes—self-governed cities with participatory institutions. Moreover, within Christian Europe, stricter regional and temporal marriage prohibitions are associated with commune formation. Lastly, I shed light on one mechanism, civicness, and show that weak kin networks are associated with more political participation.

‘They Gave Me Nothing’: Marriage, Slavery and Divorce in Twentieth-Century Abeokuta

ABSTRACT During the early twentieth century, several hundred women in colonial Abeokuta initiated divorce proceedings against their husbands, who were also frequently their masters. The legal records associated with their cases offer important clues about how women – both freeborn and slave – contested the terms of their marriages using the colonial courts. This article examines how and why these women used new interpretations of marriage, which were introduced by European Christian missionaries and the British colonial administrators in order to challenge established traditions. It reveals how colonial native courts approached indigenous norms surrounding marriage and slavery: colonial interventions gave freeborn women a measure of agency within marriage which was also somewhat unexpectedly extended to slave wives. Through an exploration of court judgements, this article demonstrates the effects of colonial intervention on marriage and slavery and the role of the colonial courts in local matrimonial disputes and practices and investigates how they empowered enslaved wives.

Brothers from Afar: Rabbinic Approaches to Apostasy and Reversion in Medieval Europe by Ephraim Kanarfogel

Reviewed by: Brothers from Afar: Rabbinic Approaches to Apostasy and Reversion in Medieval Europe by Ephraim Kanarfogel Ahuva Liberles Ephraim Kanarfogel. Brothers from Afar: Rabbinic Approaches to Apostasy and Reversion in Medieval Europe. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2020. 260 pp. In his exciting new book, Brothers from Afar, Ephraim Kanarfogel tackles one of the greatest challenges for the religious leaders of the Jewish minority in Christian Europe—the mild but constant seepage of Jews into the arms of the Christian religion, by choice or under threats and coercion. Focusing on medieval northern Europe, this book presents the diverse rabbinic approaches to apostasy and shows how these approaches were translated into rabbinic decisions. Kanarfogel also identifies the complexity of rabbinic attitudes toward individuals who sought to rejoin the Jewish community after their conversion, and how these judgments were challenged and changed over the course of the Middle Ages and in different geographic areas. This book is the conclusive outcome of the author's many years of extensive research on this subject. As the author clarifies in his introduction, this is a book about the history of Halakhah as it relates to apostasy and reversion, rather than a book about medieval converts or conversion per se. At the same time, it reveals much about actual acts of conversion and medieval converts. Drawing on an extremely impressive corpus of medieval Jewish manuscripts, many of which were previously unknown or had never been addressed, Brothers [End Page 164] from Afar examines the sources against the backdrop of the linguistic and legal context in which they were created. Throughout the monograph, the reader will find profound rabbinic discussions illuminating several aspects of the intricate religious identity of apostates. How was an apostate supposed to comprehend his or her religious affiliation according to Jewish law? Did he or she relinquish Judaism by undergoing baptism? It is important to distinguish between the social and economic distance that the Jewish community, according to its rabbinic leaders, was expected to maintain from apostates, and rabbinic expectations from the converts to continue to fulfill their obligations to their Jewish family regardless of their baptism and new religious affiliation. In this context, the act of religious immersion upon the return of a convert to the fold is justified as a communal necessity, to publicly demonstrate the return to the Jewish community, rather than as a religious requirement to overturn one's conversion. In the first chapter, "Assessing the Ashkenazi Context," Kanarfogel challenges the generally accepted thesis suggested by Jacob Katz in his work, Exclusiveness and Tolerance (1961), that Rashi was the first to understand the talmudic principle that "A Jew remains a Jew even if he has sinned grievously" (ʾaf ʿal pi she-ḥataʾ Yisraʾel hu) as holding halakhic significance for the individual Jew who converted to Christianity, rather than merely as a general attitude. Until now, it has been widely accepted that Rashi's perception of apostates as still belonging, in most respects, to the Jewish people, was an approach embraced by most rabbinic adjudicators in medieval Ashkenaz. Even though earlier scholars acknowledged that some rabbinic authorities suggested apostates should undergo ritual immersion upon their return, this position was deemed to result from a desire on the part of lay Jews to gauge the sincerity of the apostate. It was also seen as an expectation that stemmed from popular culture and served to undo the convert's previous baptism (6–8). One of the goals of Brothers from Afar is to demonstrate that some rabbinic approaches were much closer to this view than was previously thought and that ritual immersion was indeed demanded by some rabbinic authorities. Kanarfogel asserts that mid-thirteenth-century northern French Tosafists prescribed immersion for apostates returning to Judaism, in contrast to earlier scholarly claims that apostates were encouraged to return to the Jewish community without being required to undergo any special ceremony or act. In chapter 2, "Establishing Boundaries: Immersion, Repentance, and Verification," Kanarfogel paints a rich picture of medieval rabbinic scholarship by examining dozens of medieval Hebrew manuscripts dealing with halakhic questions concerning converts and conversion, closely noting and revealing variations in the choice of words and shifts in the order...

The Divine Feminine in Mormon Art

The Divine Feminine in Mormon Art

The neo-medievalist strategy of the Holy See in international politics: from Cairo to Regensburg

There are many religious actors in the system of modern international relations, but one of them is especially important, as it has a special (observer) status in the UN, diplomatic relations with most countries of the world and acts as a norm-setting entity. At the same time, it must be said that scholars in the field of international relations pay very little attention to it. Thus, we are talking about the Roman Catholic Church, whose number of believers exceeds 1.3 billion worldwide, and whose institutional expression and legal personality is a sacred seat in international politics. The purpose of this article is to show how the Holy See still preserves the legacy of medieval European Christianity (Catholicism) in today's international politics and to reaffirm the importance of religion in global processes. The example of the Holy See makes it clear that religious actors have always played a certain role in the transnational governance of the international community. On the other hand, we will try to illustrate the impact that the Holy See's diplomatic strategy can have on the secular state system as well as on global public policy.

A Whirlwind Passed through Our Country: Lakota Voices of the Ghost Dance by Rani-Henrik Andersson

Reviewed by: A Whirlwind Passed through Our Country: Lakota Voices of the Ghost Dance by Rani-Henrik Andersson Lisa J. M. Poirier (bio) A Whirlwind Passed through Our Country: Lakota Voices of the Ghost Dance by Rani-Henrik Andersson University of Oklahoma Press, 2018 A WHIRLWIND PASSED THROUGH OUR COUNTRY is a thoroughly contextualized and annotated collection documenting a broad spectrum of Lakota perspectives on the Ghost Dance of 1890. It is not merely an updated treatment of the documents in the Eugene Beuchel Manuscript Collection at Marquette University. Rather, Andersson has meticulously assembled and retranslated all available printed sources that contain Lakota (and Lakota-adjacent) views regarding the Ghost Dance of 1890. Rani-Henrik Andersson has buttressed the Beuchel collection with documents from several other archival and newspaper sources, including, perhaps most impressively, his translations of accounts from Iapi Oaye, the Dakota-language Presbyterian missionary newspaper. With the publication of this book, the complexity and multiplicity of Lakota positions regarding the Ghost Dance Movement of 1890 has been made abundantly clear and widely accessible. Rani-Henrik Andersson's linguistic, cultural, and historical expertise is evident in his fresh translation, careful contextualization, and thorough annotation of dozens of Lakota accounts of the origin, transmission, performance, significance, and future of the Ghost Dance. Andersson has arranged the collection into four sections that represent and illustrate the spectrum of Lakota attitudes toward and relationships with the Ghost Dance. In the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century, settlers and scholars categorized Lakota positions on the Ghost Dance as either "progressive" (Christian and opposed to the Ghost Dance) or "non-progressive" (traditionalist and supportive of the Ghost Dance). Andersson's quadripartite division of these texts takes an important step in disrupting this binary system of classification. The first section of the book is filled with accounts from enthusiastic Lakota practitioners of the Ghost Dance, described by Andersson as "true believers." The second part includes the views of some Lakota people who were initially practitioners but later ended their participation, as well as statements by sympathetic nonpractitioners (like Red Cloud and Sitting Bull), accounts from Lakota men involved in the arrest and murder of Sitting [End Page 190] Bull (which provide context for the volatility of the time), and finally, the perspectives of vocal opponents of the Ghost Dance (like American Horse and Young Man Afraid of His Horses). The third part of the collection contains documents conveying the thoughts of outsiders who were still close observers of the ritual, including, notably, not just George Sword and William T. Selwyn but also several settlers married to Lakota women and several men of mixed French-Canadian and Native (Lakota, Omaha, or Santee) heritage. These outsider accounts add a great deal to the richness of Part 3. The final part of the collection presents the perspectives of Lakota (and Santee) Christians with Euro-American educational backgrounds, including Charles Eastman and Luther Standing Bear, as well as the Christian perspectives published in Iapi Oaye. The book admirably succeeds in illustrating that there was no unified "Lakota perspective" on the Ghost Dance of 1890. Clearly, there was a multiplicity of perspectives. Andersson accomplishes his goal of complicating the old "progressive" versus "non-progressive" taxonomy. His collection reflects a series of well-taken choices; the decision to include all of the Short Bull material exemplifies Andersson's dedication to representing nuance, specificity, and change over time. In addition, Andersson's excellent introduction includes a detailed contextualization of the Ghost Dance of 1890, including environmental context of the sort that anchors Louis Warren's God's Red Son. The footnotes are filled with substantive annotations and observations. There is still some room for critique, however. For instance, as a scholar of religion, I would have liked to see some interrogation of the use of the terms "religion" and "new religious movement" to characterize this distinctive set of ritual innovations on the northern plains at the turn of the twentieth century. I also would have appreciated a more critical engagement with the meaning and the effects of using the terms "belief" and "practice" here, especially as these terms reflect and replicate a European Christian taxonomy. While I acknowledge that...

A Review of Modern International Law on the Expansion of Colonies

The study begins with questions about Japan s colonization of the Korean Peninsula under international law. Currently, the international community is actively debating the establishment of comfort facilities for Asian women, including the peoples of the Korean Peninsula, who were colonized by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War, and were put into forced labor following the national recruitment order. In South Korea, the research focuses on the treaties signed between Japan and South Korea from the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1914 through 1910, as well as comfort women, and forced labor. However, Japan continues to argue that while its annexation of Korea was unjustified, it was not a violation of international law due to the absence of multilateral treaties on colonial expansion and few judicial bodies or international conferences. In order to elucidate the Japanese annexation of the Korean Peninsula, which is closely linked to Korea s identity, international law research on colonial expansion in the 19th and early 20 centuries is needed. Furthermore, given the fact that international law evolved in the process of the expansion of European colonies, such research is crucial for the correct understanding of contemporary international law. This study analyzes the “European International Law” of colonial expansion by examining 19th and early 20th-century bilateral treaties, state practice, and the views of international jurists. The definition of colonies as defined in international law at the time is explored, and the concept of territorial acquisition and trust to colonial peoples of European countries are also discussed. Additionally, it reviews a non-annexation declaration agreed upon at the Paris Peace Conference. In addition, it examines the human rights norms applied to the mandate system, a territorial management system operated by the League of Nations. Furthermore, this study applies the international law on colonial expansion discussed in Chapter 2 to cases involving Japanese colonial expansion. Japan began colonial expansion at the end of the 19th century when it joined the “Family of Nations”, comprising “European Christian countries.” The international community criticized Japan s ambition to expand its colonies against European international law for its colonization of the Korean peninsula, the Manchurian Incident, the Sino-Japanese War, and the mandate of the South Sea Islands.

LYON, NICAEA AND KARAKORUM IN THE FOREIGN POLICY OF ALEXANDER NEVSKY

In the course of contacts with Pope Innocent IV and his representatives, Alexander Nevsky and his father Yaroslav Vsevolodovich expressed their readiness to accept Catholicism and recognize the papal power in church affairs. These contacts took place in the context of the broader ecumenical processes of the 1240s-1250s, led by the heads of the Roman and Byzantine Churches. Rus’ princes and hierarchs took an active part in these processes, remaining faithful to the Byzantine Church. The Mongol threat, which affected all Christians in Europe and the Middle East, directly contributed to the intensification of efforts to restore church unity.

Beyond Metaphor: The Trinitarian Perichōrēsis and Dance

Abstract This article critically explores the question of how the image and metaphor of the Trinitarian divine dance could enhance the dialogue between theology and dance. Could this metaphor actually be a source of said dialogue? Does this idea of the Trinitarian dance really do justice either to the divine mystery of the Trinity or to dance itself? If we would like to go beyond metaphor, what further approach would be necessary? This article examines how different authors (e.g., C. S. Lewis, Paul S. Fiddes, and Catherine M. LaCugna) have used the image or metaphor of dance to describe the perichōrēsis within the Trinity as well as the creation’s perichoretic participation. This article concludes the survey by pointing out that contemporary usages of the Trinitarian dance metaphor are participating in European Christianity’s longstanding bias against dance, no matter how much they appear to appreciate it on the surface. The bias is related to Christianity’s ambivalent attitude toward the human body, despite its foundational belief that the Word became flesh. Therefore, a call to bring the lens of dance into Christian theology should be taken as nothing less than a call to eliminate this bias against the human body itself.

Das Evangelium im postchristlichen Europa verkünden

Summary As a result of the process of secularisation, Christians in Europe are increasingly becoming a minority. Therefore, European churches are challenged to develop appropriate innovative models of contextualisation for the gospel instead of swerving into nostalgic retrospection or uncritically adopting theological approaches from other continents. This article presents the contextual pole of such a model, which consists of three areas: aesthetics, ethics and ecclesiology; they match people's aesthetic and ethical needs, and their desire for truth, manifested in the search for the legitimacy of one's actions in a group. Each area is assigned an adequate theological source that enables contextual correlation: aesthetics, the ambiguous imagery from Revelation; ethics, the theology of mission of the First Letter of Peter; and ecclesiology, the call to the disciples in Matthew 5 to ‘be salt and light’. This ideal-typical model perceives the increasing aestheticisation of society as a dominant cultural feature and uses it as a starting point for a process of contextualisation. The context pole is determined by the anthropological dynamic which leads from the ‘beautiful’ to the ‘good’ and from the ‘good’ to the ‘true.

A Reassessment of Diplomatic Interactions and Islamic Laws of Nations in The International System

The discourse on the evolution of the principles of international laws and laws amongst nations have always taken a Eurocentric approach. The common argument and perspectives is that contemporary international law evolved from the Christendom to the Spanish School and Grotius, while downplaying the influence of the Islamic law of nations in shaping issues of acculturation, accommodation, rules of engagement in war relating to international law. This paper tends to x-ray and investigate the impact of the Islamic law of nations, from the the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah to the Siyar of Muhammad ibn Shaybani. It tries to highlight the relevance of the Muslim East and its concrete contributions to Laws and treaties of the Middle Ages to recent times and also argues, using existing literature, that the European Christian society only adopted what already existed in the Muslim, Islamic laws and tried to Christianise them overtime. The paper finds that further investigation and interrogation will reveal much more of the influence of the Islamic laws on contemporary laws of relations amongst nations and beyond.

Nietzsche and the Last Pope: Changing the Paradigm, or the End of al-Millah (the Theologico-political Community)

This essay juxtaposes the death of the moral god in Christian Europe (Nietzsche) with the demise of al-millah or the theologico-political community in Islam. This comparative engagement allows for a local (Arab Muslim) and universal rethinking of, inter alia, faith, freedom, and transcendence beyond terrorism and methodological atheism.

МОТИВ КАК ИДЕАЛЬНЫЙ ТИП, ИЛИ ТРИКСТЕРСКИЕ ЭПИЗОДЫ В ЕВРАЗИЙСКОМ ФОЛЬКЛОРЕ

Folklore motif is an analytical tool created for the particular kind of research. Our purpose is to reveal routes of the interregional exchange of ideas in different periods of the past. The dissemination of ideas can be followed when we study material (archaeological sites) and nonmaterial (traditional narratives) objects created because of particular ideas adopted by people. Ideas are copied and disseminated unconsciously. The folklore motif is any unit of replication (most often an episode or an image) registered in two or more traditions. The tradition is a totality of narratives recorded for a particular ethnic group or across a particular territory. Motifs can be classified according to thematic groups that approximately correspond to genres of those narratives from which they are selected. The author analyses the results of computing trickster motifs with animal and anthropomorphic actors. The area configuration of the selected interaction spheres suggests that the spread of the motifs with anthropomorphic actors took place mostly from the late Antique period to the early New Time, and the spread of the animal tales – during the Middle Age and earlier. The influence of the Great Steppe on East Europe is noticeable for the Middle Age with the emergence of the borderline between Christian Europe, and the Asian-Africa interaction sphere is a characteristic trait of the early New Time. China is outside of this opposition.