Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality,
and to see the links to virtual rooms.
Log in
- Convenors:
-
Dalia Senvaitytė
(Vytautas Magnus University)
Rasa Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė (Vytautas Magnus University)
Send message to Convenors
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- TEMPORALITIES
- Location:
- Room K-205
- Sessions:
- Thursday 16 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
The panel welcomes innovative papers addressing the following themes: rethinking the methodological and theoretical approaches of ritual year and the life cycle rituals, their change, and the reasons for this transformation.
Long Abstract:
The contemporary, "overheated world" of rapid change (according to T. Eriksen) has a great impact on the multidimensional social change of our society, as well as on the ritual year and the life-cycle rituals. The changing process of rituals leads to new kinds of paradoxes and complexities that it is necessary to examine. Transformations of rituals could be determined by "competing perspectives, ideologies, and persuasions concerning the relationship of the individual to the group, the past to the present, tradition to change, purity to mixing" (Eriksen, Schober 2016).
The panel invites the discussion on the following or related topics addressed to the different issues as a change of lifestyle (for example, change of technologies, digitalization, current pandemic situation, etc.), the impact of political propaganda and legitimization, media, religious shift, business and commerce, science and education, impact by specific social and cultural institutions, groups, organizations, or individuals.
Accordingly, all festivities and their rituals could be analyzed by the processes of:
• remembering (e.g., historical memory, heritage making);
• re-creating;
• renovating, re-inventing, re-constructing (including historical re-construction);
• re-telling;
• regulating;
• re-searching (e.g., research of used data, evaluation of previous studies, etc.);
• re-education.
The North European region has similarities as well as particular variations in the processes that could be analyzed specifically and in a comparative approach.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 16 June, 2022, -Anders Gustavsson (University of Oslo)
Paper short abstract:
This study of the new religious Oasis Movement in Sweden from 1984 onwards aims at answering the following research questions: Which historical background provides the basis for whatever is to be renewed or rediscovered? How does adaptation to the modern time proceed?
Paper long abstract:
This study of the new religious Oasis Movement aims at answering the following research questions:
Which historical background provides the basis for whatever is to be renewed or rediscovered? How does adaptation to the modern time proceed?
The Oasis movement in Sweden started in 1984 as the Reference Group for Spiritual Renewal in the Swedish Church. This Movement has successively acquired a more ecumenical emphasis and is no longer related solely to the Swedish Church. The Movement deliberately addresses all age groups and social classes. Hierarchy is not allowed. It is a charismatic movement. The reintroduced liturgical rituals include the rediscovery of communion, confession, dance, flags, intercessional prayers including the laying on of hands and anointment with oils, healing services, speaking in tongues, and songs of praise. This takes place in combination with lifted hands, personal testimony, prophetic messages and music played on modern instruments. The Oasis Movement diligently uses digital media to spread its spiritual message and information.
The Oasis Movement is not a static organisation, but one in continuous change. Some new rituals have arisen suddenly and spontaneously, but their roots are firmly planted in biblical examples. A basic principle manifest in the Oasis Movement is the idea of renewal on a historical basis. The concept of oscillation between continuity and change is basic in this study which examines the Oasis Movement from the inside and follows its development and changes across time. The liturgical independence agrees with the spirit of contemporary individualism resisting any form of conformity.
Sheila Young (Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen)
Paper short abstract:
Covid forced re-assessment and re-evaluation of wedding plans. Couples chose between marrying at the planned time or delaying with the planned guests. This reinforced the importance of the marriage institution and of a public wedding.
Paper long abstract:
The arrival of the Covid 19 pandemic to the UK in 2020 caused social and personal upheaval on an unprecedented scale not seen since the Second World War. The life cycle rituals of birth, death and marriage were particularly affected. This paper will present the preliminary findings of my research into the attitudinal changes to marriage and the wedding brought about by the pandemic. Interviews conducted in 2021 with 8 British couples, whose wedding plans were severely disrupted by government restrictions around social distancing and travel, show that attitudes to the marriage ritual had to be re-assessed and re-evaluated. With the rules over how many could attend the wedding frequently changing, and at times being as few as five attendees, difficult decisions had to be made. The terms “marriage” and “wedding”, often previously used inter-changeably, now became distinct, as couples were forced to decide what was of greater importance to them as individuals, and as a couple; did they simply want to be married, regardless of how many or how few people could attend, or did they want to have the wedding that they had originally planned, and if so, were they willing to postpone until this could happen? In coming to these decisions, the couples were generally agreed that it had made them think more deeply about the institution of marriage, confirmed their desire to enter into that institution and had brought into sharp focus the importance of that being a public event, witnessed by family and close friends.
Alina Oprelianska (University of Tartu)
Paper short abstract:
The ritual of sealing the grave of the deceased plays an essential role in Ukrainian burials. The paper aims to describe how inner migration and urbanization contributed to the transformation of the sealed grave ritual, as well as delineate local people influence on Church and vice versa.
Paper long abstract:
The ritual of sealing the grave and the departed is an essential part of Ukrainian funeral. Urbanization, inner migration, and accelerated tempo of life contributed to changes in funeral service, as well as to the performance and interpretation of the sealed grave ritual. Also, recent events in Ukrainian Orthodoxy brought on ideological shift among folks. In turn, it caused changes in funeral service performance.
The paper aims to describe recently collected narratives about burial customs throughout different perspectives. It delineates intertwined relations between the Church, people and politics, and ritual transformation as a result. The performance and meaning of the sealed grave vary from region to region, and from urban area to countryside. The difference in whether it is possible to seal the grave of suicides and when exactly, can be seen too.
The paper is based on fieldwork material, collected in 2020-2021, and represents point of view both Church and local people. It also represents differences between Moscow Orthodox Church in Ukraine and Ukrainian United Orthodox Church.
Rasa Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė (Vytautas Magnus University) Dalia Senvaitytė (Vytautas Magnus University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper examines the understanding and transformation process of traditional Lithuanian calendar as well as the life cycle holidays in Lithuania during 2nd part of 20th c. – the beginning of 21st c. The influence of cultural institutions regulating and creating process of festivities is discussed.
Paper long abstract:
The paper analyzes re-constructed and newly constructed calendar and life cycle rituals in the period of 2nd half of 20th c. – the beginning of 21st c. The aim of the paper is to examine the main trends of the regulation process of holidays, including newly constructed holidays and their metamorphosis over nearly half a century in Lithuania. The study is based on content and comparative analysis of published and archival documents.
We analyze the way Lithuanian people were induced to celebrate calendar holidays formed as civic rituals, which were made part of public life under the Soviet regime. Over more than fifty years Lithuanian traditional holidays have undergone various changes. The idea to reinterpret ritual calendar holidays according to Soviet ideological propaganda generated as part of the plan to transform history. During the Soviet period, the festivities did not tolerate religious motives and appropriate secular scenarios for traditional holidays were created.
From 1990 until now elements of pre-Christian religion prevail. New festivals supposedly associated with an old tradition have been introduced. For more than 80 years these were regulated by the Lithuanian National Culture Center (established in 1941) and its subordinate organizations. Specific aspects of traditional ethnic holidays are used to reduce the importance of the Christian religion in rituals and to emphasize the pre-Christian religious tradition.