Abstract
The article is devoted to the problem of keeping the Russian Germans traditions. The author points to the multifaceted character of the concept ‘tradition’ and compares different theoretical approaches to the interpretation of this term. The author tries to reconstruct the course of celebration of such religious festive occasions as Weihnachten and Ostern. She focuses her attention on the specifi c features of these celebrations that are peculiar only to the German. The research is based on the data collected during ethnographical expeditions to Oktyabrskij district of Chelyabinsk region by means of observations, interviews and questionnaire polls.
The analysis of all the materials revealed that the Russian Germans kept the belief and traditions of the ancestors despite Soviet antireligious propaganda. Some Christmas and Easter celebration canons remained intact till the end of the 20th century due to the densely populated settlements where the German prevailed.
Nowadays the Russian Germans are losing their traditions step by step. It is caused by overgrowing number of mixed marriages and by scattering over unbounded Russian territories.
The recent public opinion poll made among the Russian Germans showed that the young generation doesn’t pay so much attention to their traditions.
Keywords
Germans from Russia, ethnic culture, religious traditions, customs, Oktyabrskij district of Chelyabinsk region, multicultural environment, ethnographic expedition
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