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Accepted Paper:
’Big Foot religion’ in late and post-Soviet culture: how and why ‘surviving hominids’ permeated New Age imagination in Russia
Alexander Panchenko
(University of Tartu)
This paper will deal with one particular type of agents, namely Snowmen who occupy, along with extraterrestrials and poltergeists, a significant place in late Soviet and post-Soviet New Age ontologies of “paranormal”.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will deal with one particular type of agents, namely snezhnye liudi / Snowmen (known also as Bigfoots, Yeti, etc.) who occupy, along with extraterrestrials and poltergeists, a significant place in late Soviet and post-Soviet New Age ontologies of “paranormal”. Being initially stimulated by a number of motifs from world folklore, ancient and medieval literature, 20th century “Bigfoot beliefs” involved discussions of humanity, bestiality, and teratology; normal and paranormal; “secrets of nature” to be discovered and explained. On the other hand, the very importance of "surviving hominids" for post-secular ontologies and their relation to other agents of New Age beliefs still requires further investigation. The “Bigfoot hunt” in the USSR started in the mid 1950s and was supported by a number of influential academics including the prominent historian Boris Porshnev. However, the rise of “Bigfoot mythology” in late Soviet and post-Soviet popular culture was generally related to New Age beliefs, “alternative science” and “paranormal subcultures”. In the paper, I will discuss the history and cultural specifics of Russian “Bigfoot beliefs” in the global context of New Age culture.