Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2022 number

The study is devoted to the local calendar customs formation of the Russians in the Altai region in the 1920-1960s. The author examines in detail the adaptation mechanisms of traditional culture in the region at different stages of this period (under the conditions of a new ideology, the cultural policy of the Soviet state, anti-religious propaganda, etc.) of the Russians in Altai. The research objectives are to identify the main causes of transformational processes in the festive calendar of Altai Russians in the 1920s-1960s, characterize the features of some holidays of the “new Soviet ritual”, designate elements of customs and rituals of traditional calendar holidays included in the scenarios of new Soviet holidays. The study aim is to trace transformations of socio-cultural processes in terms of adaptation of traditional culture to the new, crisis conditions of existence. The research novelty is to solve the problem at the specific regional level (district, village). As a result, the author has recorded important changes in the system of traditional calendar holidays, such as violation of the ban to work on holidays, shifts and transfers in performing rituals, changes in the recipe of festive dishes, and others. The article notes that many informants born in the 1940s and later do not remember the meanings of performing certain ritual actions, cannot explain their purpose yet. The author managed to establish some borrowings from traditional festive rituals regarding «new holiday rituals»: for example, curling birch branches with ribbons when rewarding a collective farm unit, decorating cars with birch branches (Holiday of the Russian Birch). There were a number of adaptive forms during the period of ritual rounds of courtyards on Christmas time, Maundy Thursday, Easter and Radunitsa, Trinity. The study confirms that since the late 1920s - early 1930s there was a division of views of the older and younger generations, which was expressed in relation to the «old» and «new» holidays («your» and «our» holidays). These processes influenced the formation of a new Soviet identity of people later called «Sovieticus». The study is based on the author’s field research in 2014-2022: interviews with descendants of old-timers and settlers of Altai Region, employees of rural Houses of Culture, teachers of rural schools, librarians, leaders of folklore ensembles, etc. Besides, it uses materials from the State Archives, Pospelikha Archives of the Altai Region.