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CHRIS J. CHULOS (Helsinki, Finland) MYTHS OF THE PIOUS OR PAGAN PEASANT IN POST-EMANCIPATION CENTRAL RUSSIA (VORONEZH PROVINCE)* . Observers of post-Emancipation Russian rural life have often commented on the resistance of traditional peasant culture to economic, political, and so- cial change. Rural activists and reformers, educators, clergymen, publishers of popular literature, and revolutionaries shared a common belief that these changes could only be brought about if the dark peasant masses were properly enlightened. Although these educated Russians disagreed on the type of en- lightenment necessary, they believed that education would wipe clean the most noxious residue of centuries of peasant tradition, particularly the more formal- istic aspects of religious expression, the adherence to dvoeverie (dual faith of Christian and pagan elements), and the perpetuation of the myriad supersti- tions, irrational beliefs, and behaviors associated with them. Thus enlightened, the superstitious peasantry could eventually be transformed into a rational, modem Russian citizenry. The post-Emancipation writings of educated Rus- sians so persuasively supported these conceptions of the peasant world that, with few exceptions, they continue to be considered undeniable facts, rather than the intellectual or mythical constructions of a given social, cultural, and intellectual milieu.1 1 ; .. .
Russian History – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 1995
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