The Centre for Typological and Semiotic Folklore
Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow) will hold
an international conference "Mythological Models and Ritual Behaviour in the
Soviet and Post-Soviet Sphere,” September 26–28, 2013.
The Soviet ideology whose aim was to
construct a new world was explicitly based on a rationalistic, materialistic
paradigm and denounced anything mythological and super-rational. At the same
time, however, it actively used traditional images and religious metaphors in
its quest for creating a new Soviet person, and even people opposed to the
Soviet system not infrequently shaped their protest using the very same
mythological models and dichotomies. In other words, the loyalty to the system
as well as the opposition towards it was marked by means of a complex and heterogeneous
system of mythological texts, prohibitions, and prescriptions. As a consequence
of this, some of the patterns formed during the Soviet era continue to be
potent in the post-Soviet period. At the same time we see the emergence of new
mythological complexes and practices based to a large extent on the opposition
towards the values of the Soviet era.
The main aim of the conference is to trace
these processes in their diachrony and analyze their manifestations and
interrelations at particular points of time. Presentations investigating the
following topics are the most welcome:
• taboos
and euphemisms;
• transformations
of traditional mythological beliefs;
• mechanisms
used in the creation of the anti-Soviet ideology;
• the
emergence of the new ritualistic culture;
• new
magical beliefs and practices;
• legendary
biographies of political leaders and national heroes;
• impostors
and hoaxers of the Soviet era;
• the
scientific progress as the basis of the new mythology;
• the
anthropology of money in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods;
• falsification
of historical documents as a means of constructing a mythology.
The deadline for abstract submissions is
July 1, 2013. An abstract (not exceeding 300 words) including the description
of the material to be analyzed in the presentation and the formulation of the
problem, as well as the information about the author (name, degree,
affiliation, e-mail, and phone number), should be sent to sovietmyth@gmail.com.
The decision on the inclusion of the presentation in the conference program
will be made by July 20.
The conference will be divided into several
sessions. Each of them will commence with a lection by an invited keynote
speaker on the problem relevant for the section’s main topic. Sections will
include from three to five participants. All presentations will be followed by
a short review made by a specially invited scholar. Each section will end with
questions and general discussion.
The papers presented at the conference
should be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation and, if possible, by
distribution of handouts.
The working languages of the conference are
Russian and English.
Please bear in mind that the conference
proceedings will be published in advance. Consequently, all the participants
whose talk will be included in the program should submit the full text of
their paper not exceeding 2000 words before September 1, 2013. The style sheet
will be provided in due time.
Unfortunately, we are unable to cover any
transportation and accommodation costs.
The organizing committee:
Mikhail Alekseevsky (SRCRF), Alexandra
Arkhipova (CTSFS RSUH), Jacob Fruchtmann (Forschungstelle Osteuropa, Bremen),
Olga Khristoforova (CTSFS RSUH), Sergey Neklyudov (CTSFS RSUH), Anna Sokolova
(Institute for Ethnology and Anthropology RAS).
Contacts:
E-mail: sovietmyth@gmail.com
Tel.: +74999734354
Coordinator
of the conference: Natalya Petrova (CTSFS RSUH)
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