Lamazhaa Ch. K., Namrueva L. V. Complex Manifestations of Neo-Traditionalism and Archaization in the Regions of the Southern Federal District
The article was written with support from the Russian Foundation for the Humanities (project “Research Database Russian Models of Archaization and Neotraditionalism in the Conditions of Modernization”, grant No. 13-03-12005â).
Abstract ♦ The article provides an overview of studies in archaization, neo-traditionalism and their manifestations in the regions of the Southern Federal Districts (comprising Republics of Adygea and Kalmykia, as well as Astrakhanskaya, Volgogradskaya, Rostovskaya Oblasts and Krasnodarskii Krai). Judging by the diversity of its constituent parts, the district itself can be characterized as the epitome of the multiethnic and multicultural Russia.
Collecting, analyzing and systematizing literature was a joint responsibility of a research team comprising researchers from the Institute of Fundamental and Applied Studies, Moscow University for the Humanities, and from a number of other research centers. The materials are prepared and published in the research database “Russian Models of Archaization and Neo-Traditionalism in the Conditions of Modernization” (www.neoregion.ru).
As our survey has shown, researchers are primarily focused on two complex processes — religious neo-traditionalism and the Cossack movement. These social phenomena contain a number of neo-traditionalist and archaizing tendencies and thus have a significant impact on the socio-cultural, political and economic life of regional communities.
We consider religious neo-traditionalism an important factor in the socio-cultural life of the region. It both embodies an adaptation strategy in a society undergoing transformation and acts as a source of social instability and interethnic tension. When the masses turn to religion, this process also has archaic elements — a certain “mythologicality” of thought and a “pact” with the supernatural forces in order to solve problems of the everyday life. A revival of the cultural values of the traditional religions often runs counter to the goals of modernization and social reform.
The Cossack movement also performs an adaptational function and plays an ethno-mobilizational role for people experiencing social transformation. This movement comprises a number of neo-traditionalist (folklore, military, ideological, festive, religious, etc.) practices and can be considered a complex and controversial social phenomenon.
Keywords: Southern Federal District, religious situation, religious neo-traditionalism, archaization, archaic practices, neo-traditionalism, database, overview, Cossack movement, forms of neo-traditionalism.
Lamazhaa Chimiza Kuder-oolovna, Doctor of Philosophy, Deputy Director, Institute of Fundamental and Applied Studies, Moscow University for the Humanities; Full Member, International Academy of Science (Innsbruck, Austria). Postal address: 5 Yunosti St., 111395 Moscow, Russia. Tel.: +7 (499) 374-75-95. E-mail:
lamajaa@mail.ru
Namrueva Liudmila Vasilievna, Candidate of Social Science, Associate Professor; Head, Department of Sociopolitical and Environmental Studies, Kalmyk Institute for Humanitarian Research, Russian Academy of Sciences. Postal address: 8 Ilishkin St., Elista, Kalmykia, Russian Federation, 358000. Tel.: +7 (84722) 3-55-06. E-mail:
lnamrueva@yandex.ru
Citation: Lamazhaa Ch. K. and Namrueva L. V. (2014) Kompleksnye proiavleniia neotraditsionalizma i arkhaizatsii v regionakh Iuzhnogo federal'nogo okruga [Complex Manifestations of Neo-Traditionalism and Archaization in the Regions of the Southern Federal District]. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, no. 4, pp. 27–39. (In Russ.).
Antropov, O. O. (2003) Dvizhenie vozrozhdeniia kazachestva v Astrakhanskoi oblasti v 1990-e gg. [The Cossack Revival Movement in Astrakhanskaya Oblast in the 1990s]. Novyi istoricheskii vestnik, no. 9, pp. 46–67. (In Russ.).
Babich, I. L. (2004) Respublika Adygeia: islam i obshchestvo na rubezhe vekov [The Republic of Adygea: Islam and Society at the Turn of the Century]. Tsentral'naia Aziia i Kavkaz, no. 6, pp. 67–89. (In Russ.).
Babich, I. L. and Iarlykapov, A. A. (2003) Islamskoe vozrozhdenie v sovremennoi Kabardino-Balkarii: perspektivy i posledstviia [Islamic Revival in the Contemporary Kabardino-Balkaria: Prospects and Consequences]. Moscow, Art-Press. 144 p. (In Russ.).
Belikova, E. O. (2007) Religioznaia situatsiia v Volgogradskoi oblasti : sotsiologicheskii analiz [Religions in Volgogradskaya Oblast: A Sociological Analysis] : diss. … Candidate of Social Science. Volgograd. 202 p. (In Russ.).
Dordzhieva, B. V. (2014) Agrarnaia arkhaika neuchityvaemoi ekonomiki Respubliki Kalmykiia [The Agrarian Archaics of the Unaccounted Economy of the Republic of Kalmykia]. Fundamental'nye issledovaniia, no. 3–3, pp. 547–549. (In Russ.).
Zhade, Z. A. (2011) Rol' gosudarstvennoi natsional'noi politiki v upravlenii etnokonfessional'nymi protsessami v Respublike Adygeia [The Role of Federal National Policy in Administering the Ethnoconfessional Processes in the Republic of Adygea]. In: Sistemnyi krizis na Severnom Kavkaze i gosudarstvennaia strategiia makroregiona: Materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii (13–15 sentiabria 2011 g., Rostov-na-Donu) [The Systemic Crisis in Northern Caucasus and the State Macro-Region Strategy: Proceedings of an All-Russia Conference, Rostov-on-Don, 13–15 September, 2011] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 288 p. Pp. 96–99. (In Russ.).
Zeletdinova, E. A. and Lagutkin, O. Yu. (2008) Dominanty obshchestvennogo soznaniia v religiozno-konfessional'noi sfere v Astrakhanskoi oblasti (konfliktologicheskii aspekt) [Dominants of Public Conscience in the Religious Sphere of Astrakhanskaya Oblast]. Polis, no. 2, pp. 68–80. (In Russ.).
Kotelenko, D. G. (2009) Konfessional'nye granitsy na Iuge Rossii [Confessional Boundaries in the South of Russia]. In: Problemy i perspektivy sotsial'no-ekonomicheskogo i nauchno-tekhnologicheskogo razvitiia iuzhnykh regionov : Mat-ly Vseros. nauch. konf. (21–22 sentiabria 2009 g., Rostov-na-Donu) [Problems and Prospects of Socioeconomic, Scientific and Technological Development of Russia’s Southern Regions : Proceedings of an All-Russian Conference (September 21–22, 2009, Rostov-on-Don] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 416 p. Pp. 151–153. (In Russ.).
Kulibaba, S. I. (2005) Nekotorye osobennosti dukhovnoi kul'tury naseleniia Astrakhanskoi oblasti [Some Features of Spiritual Culture in Astrakhanskaya Oblast]. Sotsiologiia vlasti, no. 1, pp. 101–105. (In Russ.).
Lamazhaa Ch. K. and Namlinskaia O. O. (2013) Rossiiskie modeli arkhaizatsii i neotraditsionalizma v usloviiakh modernizatsii [Russian models of archaization and neo-traditionalism under modernization]. In: Sovremennoe sostoianie kul'tury i obshchestva: osobennosti i perspektivy razvitiia Rossii [The Contemporary State of Culture and Society: Features and Prospects of Russia’s Development] : a collection of articles / ed. by A. V. Kostina. Moscow, Moscow University for the Humanities Publ. Pp. 99–103. (In Russ.).
Lamazhaa, Ch. K. (2011) Arkhaizatsiia obshchestva v period sotsial'nykh transformatsii (sotsial'no-filosofskii analiz tuvinskogo fenomena) [The Archaization of Society in the Period of Social Transformation (A Socio-Philosophical Analysis of the Tuva Phenomenon)] : abstract of the diss. … Doctor of Philosophy. Moscow. 41 p. (In Russ.).
Marzaeva, M. B. (2012) Etnokul'turnye protsessy u kalmykov v postsovetskii period [Ethnocultural Processes in Post-Soviet Kalmyks]. Vestnik Kalmytskogo universiteta, no. 4 (16), pp. 16–20. (In Russ.).
Mezhetnicheskie i konfessional'nye otnosheniia v Iuzhnom federal'nom okruge. Ekspertnyi doklad [Interethnic and confessional Relations in the Southern Federal District. An Expert Paper] (2013) / ed. by V. A. Tishkov, L. L. Khoperska and V. V. Stepanov. Raspredelennyi nauchnyi tsentr mezhnatsional'nykh i mezhreligioznykh problem Ministerstva obrazovaniia i nauki RF i Rossiiskoi akademii nauk [online] Available at: http://rncmon.ru/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ÝÊÑÏÅÐÒÍÛÉ-ÄÎÊËÀÄ_ÐÍÖ-ÞÔÎ_201.pdf [archived in WebCite] (accessed 12.08.2014). (In Russ.).
Nadneeva, K. A. (2001) Buddizm makhaiany v Respublike Kalmykiia : Filosofsko-kul'turologicheskii analiz [The Mahayana Buddhism in the Republic of Kalmykia] : diss. ... Doctor of Philosophy. St. Petersburg. 321 p. (In Russ.).
Namrueva, L. V. (2012) Konfessional'naia identichnost' mongoloiazychnykh narodov [Confessional Identity in Mongol-Speaking Peoples]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniia, no. 2, pp. 134–138. (In Russ.).
Namrueva, L. V. (2013) Sotsiokul'turnoe izmerenie modernizatsii Rossii [The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Modernizing Russia]. Vestnik Kalmytskogo instituta gumanitarnykh issledovanii RAN, no. 1, pp. 133–137. (In Russ.).
Pertseva, Yu. I. (2014) Vozrozhdenie traditsionnoi kul'tury kazachestva v deiatel'nosti fol'klornykh kollektivov iuga Rossii [Reviving Traditional Cossack Culture by Folklore Teams in the Russian South]. In: Modernizatsiia polietnichnogo makroregiona i sopredel'nykh gosudarstv: opyt, problemy, stsenarii razvitiia: mat-ly Vseros. nauch. konf-tsii (g. Rostov-na-Donu, 18–19 sentiabria 2014 g.) [Modernizing a Polyethnic Macroregion and Neighboring States: Track Record, Issues, Development Scenarios : Proceedings of All-Russia Conference (Rostov-on-Don, 18–19 September 2014] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 458 p. Pp. 378–383. (In Russ.).
Pokaninova, E. B. (2012) Sotsial'no-filosofskii analiz transformatsii gosudarstvenno-konfessional'nykh otnoshenii v Respublike Kalmykiia [A Socio-Philosophical Analysis of the Transforming Relations between the State and Religions in the Republic of Kalmykia] : abstract of the diss. … Doctor of Philosophy. Moscow. 58 p. (In Russ.).
Razdol'skii, S. A. (2011) Sokhranenie i razvitie pravoslaviia na iuge Rossii [Preserving and Developing Orthodoxy in the South of Russia]. In: Sistemnyi krizis na Severnom Kavkaze i gosudarstvennaia strategiia razvitiia makroregiona: mat-ly vseros. nauch. konf-tsii (13–15 sentiabria 2011 g., Rostov-na-Donu) [The Systemic Crisis in Northern Caucasus and the State Macro-Region Strategy : Proceedings of an All-Russia Conference, Rostov-on-Don, 13–15 September, 2011] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 288 p. Pp. 111–114. (In Russ.).
Rvacheva, O. V. (2014) Kazachestvo iuga Rossii: perspektivy etnicheskogo razvitiia i prioritety gosudarstvennoi politiki [Cossacks of the Russian South: Prospects of Ethnic Development and Priorities of State Policy]. In: Modernizatsiia polietnichnogo makroregiona i sopredel'nykh gosudarstv: opyt, problemy, stsenarii razvitiia: mat-ly Vseros. nauch. konf-tsii (g. Rostov-na-Donu, 18–19 sentiabria 2014 g.) [Modernizing a Polyethnic Macroregion and Neighboring States: Track Record, Issues, Development Scenarios : Proceedings of All-Russia Conference (Rostov-on-Don, 18–19 September 2014] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 458 p. Pp. 405–409. (In Russ.).
Ryblova, M. A. (2010) Donskoe kazachestvo: k voprosu ob «istokakh» i sotsiokul'turnykh transformatsiiakh [The Don Cossacks: On the Issue of “Origins” and Socio-Cultural Transformations]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie, no. 6, pp. 158–174. (In Russ.).
Sychev, A. V. and Sycheva, M. A. (2008) Iuzhnyi Federal'nyi okrug. Kul'turologicheskii obzor [The Southern Federal District. A Cultural Studies Overview]. Rostov-on-Don, BARO-PRESS. 248 p.
Tarasova, T. T. (2014) Religioznyi faktor v zhizni vuzovskoi molodezhi g. Rostova-na-Donu [The Religious Factor in Student Life in Rostov-on-Don]. In: Modernizatsiia polietnichnogo makroregiona i sopredel'nykh gosudarstv: opyt, problemy, stsenarii razvitiia: mat-ly Vseros. nauch. konf-tsii (g. Rostov-na-Donu, 18–19 sentiabria 2014 g.) [Modernizing a Polyethnic Macroregion and Neighboring States: Track Record, Issues, Development Scenarios : Proceedings of All-Russia Conference (Rostov-on-Don, 18–19 September 2014] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 458 p. Pp. 425–430. (In Russ.).
Tkachev, M. V. (2007) Sotsiokul'turnyi aspekt migratsionnykh protsessov v kontekste regional'noi konfliktologii [The Socio-Cultural Aspect of Migration Processes in the Context of Regional Conflict Studies]. In: Aktual'nye problemy bezopasnosti v usloviiakh konfliktogennoi situatsii na Iuge Rossii: mat-ly Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf. [Urgent Issues of Security under Conflictogenic Situation in the Russian South : Proceedings of International Conference] / ed. by V. M. Yurchenko. Krasnodar, Kuban State University Publ. 464 p. Pp. 420–422. (In Russ.).
Ulanov, M. S. (2008) Kalmytskii buddizm: istoricheskii opyt i sovremennye sotsial'nye realii [Buddhism in Kalmykia: Historical Experience and Contemporary Social Realities]. In: Narody Kalmykii: problemy natsional'nogo samosoznaniia i tolerantnosti [Peoples of Kalmykia: Issues of Ethnic Identity and Tolerance]. Elista, Kalmyk Technological Institute, Branch of Pyatigorsk State Technological University Publ. 155 p. Pp. 129–136. (In Russ.).
Tsvetkov, O. M. (2011) Situatsiia v musul'manskoi obshchine Respubliki Adygeia v otsenkakh musul'man i munitsipal'nykh sluzhashchikh [The State of Affairs in the Moslem Community of the Republic of Adygea as Assessed by Moslems and Municipal Officials]. In: Sistemnyi krizis na Severnom Kavkaze i gosudarstvennaia strategiia razvitiia makroregiona: mat-ly vseros. nauch. konf-tsii (13–15 sentiabria 2011 g., Rostov-na-Donu) [The Systemic Crisis in Northern Caucasus and the State Macro-Region Strategy : Proceedings of an All-Russia Conference, Rostov-on-Don, 13–15 September, 2011] / ed. by G. G. Matishov. Rostov-on-Don, Southern Scientific Center RAS Publ. 288 p. Pp. 115–117. (In Russ.).