Russian Traditional Culture: Religion, Gender and Customary Law

by Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Ronald Radzai

Overview

The resurgence of national and historical awareness among the people of what was once the USSR has been nowhere stronger than among the Russians themselves. Some of the larger projects of rediscovery amount to a reinterpretation of traditional culture. This carefully annotated collection of recent studies of Russian folk religion, village organization and family life, including the rituals associated with childbirth, special attention to women's roles and to the specificity of Siberia in Russian culture, will be a revelation to a wide array of readers. It is intended for use not only in anthropology departments but more widely interdisciplinary courses in Russian studies, peasant studies and women's studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781315288437
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/16/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	334
Lexile:	1550L (what's this?)
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Ronald Radzai

Table of Contents

Religion and Ritual; The Introduction of Christianity in Russia and the Pagan Traditions; The Christianization of the Russian Peasants; Russian Folk Culture and Folk Religion; Forms of Transformation of Pagan Symbolism in the Old Believer Tradition; Archaic Elements in the Charms of the Russian Population of Siberia; On the History of Icon Painting in Western Siberia; Gender and Family Life; The Woman in the Ancient Russian Family (Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries); Russian Rituals, Customs, and Beliefs Associated with the Midwife (1850-1930); “She Entered a Nunnery ...”; Customary Law, Daily Life, Medicine, and Morality; The Living Past; Traditional Norms of Behavior and Forms of Interaction of Nineteenth-century Russian Peasants; The Commune and Customary Law among Russian Peasants of the Northern Cis-Urals

Editorial Reviews

Twelve papers have been translated from the Russian and arranged in sections on religion and ritual; gender and family life; and customary law, daily life, medicine, and morality. The appendices present programs for collection of material on the customs and rituals associated with childbirth and on the peasant commune and family. The bibliography lists Western-language and Russian-language sources. An introduction by the editor sets the context for the new scholarship--the surge of national and historical consciousness among the Russians themselves and others. Paper edition (unseen), $24.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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