Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy

This article considers Votian village feasts that evidently belong to the sphere of Christian folk religion. Village feasts are analysed as expressions of collective activity in pre-industrial rural society that enclosed certain religious, social and economic functions. This phenomenon of celebratin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ergo-Hart Västrik
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2011-03-01
Series:Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/40
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832569964910870528
author Ergo-Hart Västrik
author_facet Ergo-Hart Västrik
author_sort Ergo-Hart Västrik
collection DOAJ
description This article considers Votian village feasts that evidently belong to the sphere of Christian folk religion. Village feasts are analysed as expressions of collective activity in pre-industrial rural society that enclosed certain religious, social and economic functions. This phenomenon of celebrating collectively certain days of church calendar, which included ritual activities in village chapels or other local sanctuaries, common meals and heavy drinking as well singing and dancing in the course of 3–4 days, was a part of common Russian Orthodox tradition shared by several ethnic groups throughout North-West Russia in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Despite the fact that this phenomenon was familiar to the wider community of Russian Orthodox believers, there were obviously certain local characteristics and variation typical to Votian tradition. However, Votain village feasts are studied in the article in the context of Russian Orthodoxy, without favouring assumed pre-Christian elements of the Finno-Ugric religions.
format Article
id doaj-art-d9bb1bd3fc224bdc80931d47cd1418cf
institution Kabale University
issn 1736-6518
2228-0987
language English
publishDate 2011-03-01
publisher Sciendo
record_format Article
series Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
spelling doaj-art-d9bb1bd3fc224bdc80931d47cd1418cf2025-02-02T18:36:54ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872011-03-01219912240Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian OrthodoxyErgo-Hart Västrik0University of TartuThis article considers Votian village feasts that evidently belong to the sphere of Christian folk religion. Village feasts are analysed as expressions of collective activity in pre-industrial rural society that enclosed certain religious, social and economic functions. This phenomenon of celebrating collectively certain days of church calendar, which included ritual activities in village chapels or other local sanctuaries, common meals and heavy drinking as well singing and dancing in the course of 3–4 days, was a part of common Russian Orthodox tradition shared by several ethnic groups throughout North-West Russia in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Despite the fact that this phenomenon was familiar to the wider community of Russian Orthodox believers, there were obviously certain local characteristics and variation typical to Votian tradition. However, Votain village feasts are studied in the article in the context of Russian Orthodoxy, without favouring assumed pre-Christian elements of the Finno-Ugric religions.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/40VotiansChristian folk religionfolk calendarvillage feastsRussian Orthodoxy
spellingShingle Ergo-Hart Västrik
Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy
Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Votians
Christian folk religion
folk calendar
village feasts
Russian Orthodoxy
title Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy
title_full Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy
title_fullStr Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy
title_full_unstemmed Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy
title_short Votian Village Feasts in the Context of Russian Orthodoxy
title_sort votian village feasts in the context of russian orthodoxy
topic Votians
Christian folk religion
folk calendar
village feasts
Russian Orthodoxy
url https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/40
work_keys_str_mv AT ergohartvastrik votianvillagefeastsinthecontextofrussianorthodoxy