Death Rites and Laments in Russia

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract This chapter presents an overview of traditional mortuary and memorial ritual in Russia in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, concentrating on practices and beliefs in rural communities. Traditional funeral ritual is viewed as a living and fundamental pillar of the villagers’ life-world, supporting the deeply held convictions that life continues after death; that family and kinship bonds are maintained down the ages through honoring, nourishing, and remembering their dead; and that veneration of ancestors (roditeli) ensures continuity in the shared life of communities. Particular attention is paid to lament, both as a poetic form and as an instrument for communication with the dead, and to the role of lamenters as intermediaries between the living and the dead. Developments in the methodology of studying death rites and changes in traditional practice wrought by political, historical, and social pressures, particularly in the Soviet period, are also discussed.

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