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Iagafova E. The Dynamics of Religiosity and Modern Religious Practices in the Chuvash Village

E. Iagafova
Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education
Samara, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-2784-8090
E-mail: yagafova@yandex.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. Based on the author’s case study of the confessional situation in the village of Devlezerkino in Chelno-Vershinsky District of Samara Region, the article examines the formation and subsequent transformation of religious practices of the Orthodox Chuvash. The religious practices are discussed in the historical dynamics. The use of the “parish model” made it possible to study religious practices through the prism of the parish population’s relationship with the clergy, and to define the place of church in the village social life. The study is mainly based on qualitative methodology (interviews, observations) and shows that between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries the religious situation in the village developed towards introduction and establishment of Orthodox traditions and development of syncretic (Orthodox-pagan) religious practices. In the first decades of the twenty-first century, there was a noticeable shift towards Orthodox religiosity, which became ingrained in the minds of the villagers and determines their social activities manifested in restoration of the parish and construction of a church and chapel. Orthodoxy lies at the heart of the villagers’ festive and ritual culture, religious activities and experience. However, despite the dominance of Christian traditions, religious life of the Devlezerkians is largely shaped by the practices originating from the Chuvash religion

 

KEYWORDS: Chuvash, religious practices, rituals, Devlezerkino, parish, church, paganism, Orthodoxy

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2021-2(12)-72-97
УДК 39:2-41(=512.111)

 

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