Paper Short Abstract:

The Lithuanian Old Believers collection has examples of digitized household records that encompass diverse topics of the everyday life of Old Believers during the 2000s. This ego documentary material allows to research the community traditions through the lenses of their own members.

Paper Abstract:

Until this point, all studies pertaining to Old Believer folklore in Lithuania have been conducted through the lens of traditional ethnographic fieldwork. This approach involves observing and recording material during fieldwork, which is then analyzed and published in anthologies of Old Believers folklore. In Lithuania, there are numerous monographs dedicated to Old Believer folklore, as well as various non-academic releases of songbooks and CD records. However, certain material that has been stored for over a decade and has only recently been digitized and archived in the Folklore Archive of the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore affords an alternative perspective on the Lithuanian Old Believers community research. It is the collection of Ivan Maloglazov, an Old Believer himself, who from 1998 until 2009 recorded Lithuanian Old Believers folklore and religious traditions, as well as his daily life. We can consider this to be a sort of ego documentary material, enabling us to research the Old Believers community traditions through the lenses of their own members. With these detailed recordings, it is possible to gain a more in-depth understanding of the Lithuanian Old Believers community customs in the 2000s. Is this digitized material going to provide a different picture regarding this community’s traditions, or will it only confirm what was already known? This question will remain unanswered until research is done. Currently, the author will present collection statistics and examples of digitized household records that encompass diverse topics of the everyday life of the Lithuanian Old Believers family during the 2000s.