Call for Papers - “Mythological models and ritual behaviour in the Soviet and post-Soviet sphere”

Conference venue: Moscow, Russia
Period: September 26-28, 2013
Deadline for submitting abstracts: July 1, 2013
Deadline for submitting full papers: September 1, 2013

On September 26–28, 2013, the Centre for Typological and Semiotic Folklore Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow) will hold an international scientific conference called “Mythological models and ritual behaviour in the Soviet and post-Soviet sphere”.

The Soviet ideology whose aim was to construct a new world was explicitly based on a rationalistic, materialistic paradigm and denounced anything mythological and super-rational. At the same time, however, it actively used traditional images and religious metaphors in its quest for creating a new Soviet person, and even people opposed to the Soviet system not unfrequently shaped their protest using the very same mythological models and dichotomies. In other words, the loyalty to the system as well as the opposition towards it was marked by means of a complex and heterogeneous system of mythological texts, prohibitions, and prescriptions. As a consequence of this, some of the patterns formed during the Soviet era continue to be potent in the post-Soviet period. At the same time we see the emergence of new mythological complexes and practices based to a large extent on the opposition towards the values of the Soviet era.

The working languages of the conference are Russian and English.

The main aim of the conference is to trace these processes in their diachrony and analyse their manifestations and interrelations at particular points of time. Presentations investigating the following topics are the most welcome:

An abstract (not exceeding 300 words) including the description of the material to be analysed in the presentation and the formulation of the problem, as well as the information about the author (name, degree, affiliation, e-mail, and telephone number), should be sent by July 1, 2013 to sovietmyth@gmail.com.
The decision on the inclusion of the presentation in the conference programme will be made by July 20.
Please bear it in mind that the conference proceedings will be published in advance. Consequently, all the participants whose talk will be included in the programme should submit the full text of their paper not exceeding 2000 words before September 1, 2013. The style sheet will be provided in due time.

Unfortunately, the organizers are unable to cover any transportation and accommodation costs.

Ms Natalya Petrova
Centre for Typological and Semiotic Folklore Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities
Conference Coordinator
tel.: +74999734354
e-mail: sovietmyth@gmail.com.