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Sergey V. Homyakov
Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMBTS SB RAS)
Anastasia N. Soboleva
Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMBTS SB RAS)
New life of the Old Believers of Transbaikalia: towards the “Soviet person” (late 1920s)
Homyakov S.V., Soboleva A.N. New life of the Old Believers of Transbaikalia: towards the “Soviet person” (late 1920s). Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2021, vol. 27, № 4, pp. 39-46 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2021-27-4-39-46
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2021-27-4-39-46
УДК: 94(571.54)”1920”
Publish date: 2021-11-15
Annotation: In the 1920s, throughout the USSR, there were well-known processes of unification of a heterogeneous social structure, ultimately designed to create a unified Soviet society. The attitude of the Old Believers of Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Chita District of the Far Eastern Territory to what was happening during this period became one of the most problematic in terms of the introduction of Communist principles. This was recognised by almost all local Party officials and cultural workers. Formally reproducing the structures of Soviet political and economic institutions, adopting technical innovations and the specifics of the "cultural revolution" in their lives – in reality, the Semeiskie Old Believers often did not seek to change their views on the world, religious identity for the sake of forming the Soviet type of personality. The purpose of the work is to analyse the relationship between the authorities and the Old Believers, as well as the everyday perception of the Communist ideology by the latter. Hence, the main problem can be considered the identification of the reaction of the Semeiskie (including the Communists) to the intensified in their community anti-religious propaganda by the late 1920s – the main condition for changing the paradigm of the worldview. Another problem is to research the ideological (educational) aspect of the new way of life and people's attitudes towards it. As a brief conclusion it should be noted that the process of the formation of the Soviet type of personality in the Old Believers’ environment of Transbaikalia by the early 1930s had a formal character of development: the ideologisation of the population with atheistic propaganda were not tied in the minds of people as an indispensable prerequisite for their new cultural life.
Keywords: National history, Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Far Eastern Territory, Old Believers, confessor, Communist ideology, “Soviet person”, anti-religious propaganda, “Komsomol”, “cultural revolution”.
Funding and acknowledgments: The research was carried out within the state assignment, project “Russia and Inner Asia: Dynamics of Geopolitical, Socioeconomic and Intercultural Interaction (17th – 21st Centuries)”, № 121031000243-5
Literature list: Bolonev F.F. Staroobrjadcy Zabajkal'ja v XVIII-XX vv. [Old believers of Transbaikalia in the 18th and 20th centuries]. Novosibirsk, Fevral' Publ., 1994, 148 p. (In Russ.) Gestva Klaus. Sovetskij chelovek. Istoriya odnogo sobiratel'nogo ponyatiya [Soviet man. The history of one collective concept]. Vestnik obshchestvennogo mneniya [Bulletin of Public Opinion], 2018, № 1-2, pp. 58–75. (In Russ.) Dolotov A.A. Staroobrjadchestvo v Burjatii [Old believers in Buryatia]. Verkhneudinsk, Burgosizdat Publ., 1931, 52 p. (In Russ.) Popova A.M. Zabajkal'skie staroobrjadcy [Trans-Baikal Old believers]. Burjatievedenie [Buryat studies], 1928, № 1-2, 38 p. (In Russ.) Selishhev A.M. Zabajkal'skie staroobrjadcy [Trans-Baikal Old believers]. Irkutsk, Izd-vo Irkutskogo gos. un-ta Publ., 1920, 81 p. (In Russ.)
Author's info: Sergey V. Homyakov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMBTS SB RAS), Ulan-Ude, Russia, khomyakov777@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1318-8906
Co-author's info: Anastasia N. Soboleva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMBTS SB RAS), Ulan-Ude, Russia, soboleva03_88@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9861-1162