Magical and religious representations in the confessional field of modern Belarusian society

Authors

  • Alena V. Shkurova Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 1 Surhanava Street, 2 building, Minsk 220072, Belarus
  • Elizaveta V. Reut Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

religious representations, magical thinking, mystic, religious systems, mystical experience, religious ideas, traditional denominations

Abstract

The article is devoted to analysing the peculiarities of religious beliefs in Belarus. A brief overview of the adherence of confessions’ representatives to religious ideas is given. The specificity of the perception of the confessional truths by various categories of the religious population is analysed. In the process of analysis, the ratio of magic and mysticism in the context of the religious system is touched upon. А hypothesis that confessional affiliation does not exclude a tendency to magical ideas is built within the framework of the article, and a conclusion about the features of the construction and reproduction of magical and religious thinking is made.

Author Biographies

  • Alena V. Shkurova, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 1 Surhanava Street, 2 building, Minsk 220072, Belarus

    PhD (sociology), docent; head of the Operational Research Centre

  • Elizaveta V. Reut, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    lecturer at the department of social work and rehabilitation, faculty of philosophy and social sciences

References

  1. Shkurova AV. [Religion]. In: Bulynko DM, Rotman DG, editors. Tsennostnyi mir sovremennogo cheloveka: proekt «Issledovanie evropeiskikh tsennostei», volna-2018 [The world of values of modern man: the project «Research of European values», wave-2018]. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 2019. р. 114–143. Russian.
  2. Karaseva SG, Shkurova EV. Multi-dimensional cross-confessional approach to the study of religiosity in Belarus: actuality and conceptualization. Sotsiologiya. 2012;3:123–133. Russian.
  3. Shkurova AV. Transformatsiya religioznosti v sotsiokul’turnom prostranstve postsovetskogo obshchestva [Transformation of religiosity in the sociocultural space of the post-Soviet society]. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 2019. 223 p. Russian.
  4. Karaseva SG, Shkurova AV, Shatravsky SI. Importance of religion in the Belarusian society based on the believers’ assessments. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes Journal. 2018;2:49–70. Russian.
  5. Leach ER. Culture and communication: the logic by which symbols are connected. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1976. 105 p. Russian edition: Leach ER. Kul’tura i kommunikatsiya. Logika vzaimosvyazi simvolov. Kozhanovskaya IZh, translator. Moscow: Eastern Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 142 p.
  6. Svechnikov VS. [Religiosity and magical hoaxes in the mass consciousness]. Sotsiologicheskii zhurnal. 2003;1:136–145. Russian.
  7. Weber M. Izbrannye proizvedeniya [Selected works]. Davydov YuN, translator. Moscow: Progress; 1990. 808 p. Russian.

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Published

2022-10-07

Issue

No. 3 (2022): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology

Section

Social Researches

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How to Cite

[1]
Shkurova, A.V. and Reut, E.V. 2022. Magical and religious representations in the confessional field of modern Belarusian society. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology. 3 (Oct. 2022), 38–48.