Religion vs. Atheism: Two Systems of Meaning and Ritual

English

Ordinary Death in the Soviet Union: the Material and Spiritual in Atheist Cosmology

The paper deals with the problem of death as approached by the Soviet atheist ideologists. In particular, it explores the attempts by Party ideologists to substitute religious death rituals by new “socialist rituals.” The author draws upon the work of a special Commission on the study and introduction of “socialist rituals” created in 1969 under the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

The Soviet Civic Rituals as an Alternative to Religious Rites

The paper explores the history of the invention and introduction of rituals during the so called Khrushchev Thaw period, when the authorities were concerned with the creation and introduction of new socialist rituals and holidays, consonant with Soviet secularized sensibilities of the postwar period. The idea goes back to the 1920s but the systematic policy started in the Khrushchev period when many new rites were created such as wedding ceremonies or registration of the newborn, as well as “popular” and professional holidays.

“From Tradition to Modernity”: Orthodox Rituals and Celebrations during the Antireligious Campaign in Ukraine, 1950-s – 1960-s

The paper explores some transformations in Russian Orthodox ritual practices both during the Khrushchev antireligious campaign and in its aftermath; it draws on the Ukrainian material. The article examines illegal rituals, modifications of traditional life-cycle rituals, “lay services”, and organizational changes introduced into major church celebrations. Drawing on vast archival material, the author traces who initiated these transformations (laity, clergy, hierarchy) and also the attitude towards them on the part of state and ecclesiastical authorities.