DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2024.3.43670

Abstract: This work is aimed at studying the role of spiritual missions in the cultural life of Transbaikalia on the example of the Daurian Spiritual Mission, which was created by the Russian Orthodox Church with the aim of spreading Orthodoxy and Russian culture among the indigenous population of the Daurian land and neighboring regions of Eastern Siberia. It is noted that in general, the Daurian Spiritual Mission has become the most important tool of the ROC in spreading the Orthodox faith of the XVII-XVIII centuries in Siberia. It made it possible to introduce many peoples of Eastern Siberia to Christianity, preserving a tolerant approach and the uniqueness of local cultural traditions, which contributed to the development of both trade and industry in this region. During the intensive development of the economy of this part of the Russian state, the Daurian Spiritual Mission played its role as a spiritual and economic connector. Separately, the interaction of the mission with Northern Buddhism (Lamaism) and the desire to attract Buddhists to Christianity is noted. However, due to concerns about the negative impact on international relations with China, this line of work was not continued. In addition to pagan and Buddhist influence on the ethnoculture of Eastern Siberia, the influence of Old Believers is noted. The Trans-Baikal Old Believers are an important spiritual experience of Russian Orthodox culture in Eastern Siberia and have a long history. The Semey Old Believers are considered separately as a kind of Old Believers in Transbaikalia, who were settled in this territory in the XVIII century, which is caused by an incomplete understanding of their life and everyday life. It is indicated that the mixing of cultural elements, including mixed marriages, has led to the formation of a unique culture and way of life of the Semeyskys, who continue to preserve their individuality and persist in the modern world.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2023.5.40858

Abstract: The study of the cultural activity of the Spiritual missions of the Russian Orthodox Church in various regions of Russia is one of the urgent tasks in the context of the problematic field of the theory of regionalism, cultural studies and socio-philosophical knowledge. Russian settlements on the territory of the Yenisei River basin and the entry of ethnic groups and territories of Yakutia and Buryatia into the Russian Empire has become one of the most important stages of the integration of the ethnic groups of Siberia into a single statehood. The Irkutsk Spiritual Mission received a more perfect organization, institutionalized by increasing the number of missionary camps, which for successful Christian activities carried out among pagans allowed the formation of school educational institutions for the education and upbringing of a new Buryat generation of children in the doctrinal Orthodox canons, and Russian cultural traditions. In this regard, one of the key tasks of the missionaries was to establish a rational view of further life in new Christian-type formations, which was realized in socio-cultural activities: providing medical care to sick representatives of other ethnic groups, a friendly attitude to people of a different faith and a sincere desire to guide them on the path of righteousness, etc. It should be noted that the largest share of foreigners in this territory belonged to Buddhists, which was reflected in the influence of lamas on doctrinal issues, including economic ones. Since Buddhism in the Russian Empire belonged to the section of tolerant religions, direct (administrative) pressure on it was impossible. There remained funds of an exclusively spiritual nature, to which Orthodox missionary work was directed. Today in the Russian Federation, Buddhism, as well as Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as some other faiths belong to the category of traditional religions, which organizationally operate within the framework of the modern Russian Constitution.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2022.8.38544

Abstract: In historical and philosophical knowledge, since antiquity, the content side of the concept of "identity" has been considered in line with the general philosophical category of "identity". In this article, the object of research is the issues of identity in relation to the socio-cultural sphere, while taking into account the understanding of identity from the standpoint of logic, ontology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, linguistics. Accordingly, the subject of this study is the phenomenon of socio-cultural identity, in particular, in the context of the construction of a new self-consciousness in a changing Russia. Identity is interpreted by the authors as the socio-psychological stability of the subjects of society from the individual to the social community at the level of an ethnic group and people. At the same time, special emphasis is placed on identifying the meanings of such components of identity as the presence of a world of spiritual values, the peculiarities of the development of the ethno-cultural factor of society and others in relation to the history and current state of Russian society. The political and legal context of the identity of modern Russian society is analyzed separately. Since language is one of the leading factors in the construction of (ethnic, social, religious, etc.) identity, the authors analyze sociolinguistic and linguoculturological processes affecting the formation of self-identification of the individual and society. In the concluding part of the article it is indicated that in the modern conditions of the development of the cultural and civilizational process, the formation of self-consciousness and socio-cultural identity become the dominant measure of the existence of modern society. Socio-cultural identity by its nature encompasses the spiritual, psychological, political, legal and moral atmosphere of society. According to the authors of the article, in relation to Russian society, the understanding of socio-cultural identity as a way of establishing one's own civilizational specificity and originality has acquired particular importance. The awareness of the Russian person of his own self as a fragment of modern civilization is acquiring a semantic expression of eventfulness today. The scientific novelty of this study consists in identifying the main characteristics of the socio-cultural identity of modern Russian society.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2022.5.38092

Abstract: The authors of the article, having considered a series of migrations of large and small peoples to different regions of the world, found out that the change of territories of their habitat during periods of long duration was a permanent historical process. Throughout the history of mankind, individual ethnic groups and sometimes even entire peoples have changed their places of residence for one reason or another, moving in many historically recorded cases to the territory already inhabited by other peoples, coming into contact with these peoples and developing in each case various (constructive or destructive) forms of interaction. This was the case in the past, these processes continue in the present and there is every reason to assume that this will happen in the future. The term "indigenous peoples" has a certain meaning only within the framework of colonial and postcolonial discourse, outside of these limits, this term is either heuristically meaningless, or acquires an instrumental-biased and even speculative character. Nevertheless, the vagueness and dubiousness of the term "indigenous peoples", oddly enough, does not prevent its use in scientific discourses, in solving identity problems, in ethnopolitical, socio-economic and international legal spheres.      The authors have revealed that this is due to the processes of mythoconstruction of national histories by small and large peoples and, to a certain extent, geopolitical interests.The more you delve into the analysis, the more you become convinced that the concept in question is not only not heuristically significant in scientific terms, but is also often used in large-scale socio-cultural myth-making, for political and geopolitical purposes, in fueling interethnic conflicts, in inciting national enmity and other similar situations. This dubious concept is anti-historical and dangerous for the process of preserving the peaceful and sustainable existence of peoples within and between States.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2019.2.28903

Abstract: In the present work, the analysis of old belief and its place in the Altai ethnic groups' structure is conducted. This research is a logical continuation of a series of works devoted to sociolinguocultural aspects of formation, development, and current state of ethnic groups of South Siberia: Shor, Khakas, Tuvans, and Altaians.In the period from the 60s to 80s of XVIII century, Russian settlements appeared in Altai, and a great number of Old Believers were exiled, mainly to the Uimon Valley in order to find a Belovode, and by the end of the XVIII century the process of consolidation of local population groups (Siberians) ends. It is necessary to note that in this process a significant role was given to the Old Believers both in terms of labor achievements and in the development of a spiritual culture of the region. They managed to preserve their own identity, beliefs, and culture and did not lose the distinctive features of the dialect.Old belief should be considered as a spiritual and religious trend that protects the foundations, rituals and ritual practice of ancestors, both in matters of religion and in the life of the community and family life. It is necessary to note the significant role of Old Believers in the improvement of artistic culture. Owing to them, many architectural monuments, icons, ancient books, manuscripts, songs, and many other things were preserved. 

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2019.1.28729

Abstract: This article examines the traditional culture of Tuva during the post-Soviet period, and represents a logical continuation of the sequence of publications dedicated to the socio-culturological and linguo-culturological aspects of formation, evolution, and currents state of the ethnoses of Southern Siberia. The beginning of 1990’s for Tuva, its history and sociocultural situation was marked by the dissemination of the Soviet Union; there has emerged a visible trend towards the revival of traditional cultural and the return of the forgotten values, caused by the transformation of Eastern culture into the Europeanized. The Tuvan people acknowledged the contradictions between the culture of Tuvans and the genereally accepted new Soviet culture; moreover, in the political sphere of the early 1990’s has been observed the increase of nationalism and conflicts between the indigenous population and the Russians. National culture and its revival during the 1990’s were mostly a political slogan, which became an instrument for acquiring power. The occurrence of difficulties in the economic and sociocultural spheres with onset of the 1990’s can be referred to as “crisis”. It affected absolutely all spheres of life in the republic: the economic and political areas, as well as the society and its culture.