Aleksey Dmitrievich Popov,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Tyumen State University, Tyumen Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ekaterina Alekseevna Popova,
V.I. Vernadskiy Crimean Federal University, Simferopol, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fire, Water and Sonorous Bugles: Ritualized Symbolic Practices of Artek in the Late Soviet Period
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2022-6-15
The article analyses ritualized symbolic practices characteristic of the All-Union pioneer camp Artek in the second half of the 1950s – 1980s. Using of the concept of “the ritualized symbolic practice”, proposed by the American sociologist D. Knottnerus, allows the authors to get away from the need for a theoretical separation of related concepts “ritual,” “rite,” “custom,” “tradition,” “ceremony” and makes it possible for the first time to consider the whole set of emotionally loaded algorithms (scenarios) of social actions practiced in Artek, implemented in accordance with certain programs (schemes). Another advantage of this approach is the ability to build a hierarchy of Artek ritualized symbolic practices: from intra-group interaction of several people to large-scale events designed for a global audience. As a result, the authors conclude that, despite the very favorable conditions for ideological and educational influence, Artek also showed ambiguous phenomena characteristic of late Soviet society as a whole: excessive ideologization and formalism, “shadow” practices, including those aimed at moving to “zones of deterritorialization”.
Publishing: 28/12/2022
The article has been received by the editor on 01/10/2022
How to cite: Popov A.D., Popova E.A. Fire, Water and Sonorous Bugles: Ritualized Symbolic Practices of Artek in the Late Soviet Period // Historical Courier, 2022, No. 6 (26), pp. 195–206. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2022/ISTKURIER-2022-6-15.pdf]
Funding: The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project No. 20-18-00342.
Links: Issue 6 2022
Keywords: young Pioneer camp; ritual; ceremony; ritualized symbolic practice; ideology; upbringing; Artek; Soviet Union