Book Learning and Ways to Salvation in the Old Believer Communities At the Turn of the Twenty First Century

The article, based on extensive field studies of the Old Believer communities of the Upper Kama, explores profound changes brought about by the declining role of book in the Old Believer confessional culture at the turn of the twenty first century. The generational changes resulted in a diminished role of reading and interpretation of sacred text that for centuries had been at the core of communal religiosity. As a result, the traditional "ideological community" structured around spiritual leaders bringing the sacred truths to the faithful gave way to a "textual community," as defined by B. Stock. In such communities the role played by the learned members is minimal: they merely familiarize the illiterate with the sacred text and stimulate production of interpretations adopted by the faithful. This shift became apparent as early as the latter part of the 1980s. While clinging to the material tradition, such as prescribed types of clothing, shoes, food and cooking, the religious leaders embraced novel interpretations of spiritual and theological values, including justification, intercession of the saints, or the symbolism of the sacred space. Their renditions of biblical and hagiographical texts were increasingly divorced from the written word and instead became an original legendary tradition that interpreted the given liturgical and doctrinal norms in novel, original ways. The reverence for the sacred text was seamlessly blended with rather unorthodox construal, and the still un-shakeable adherence to ancient cultural norms, with creative adapting to modernity. The decline of book-centered religiosity made the Old Believer traditionalist communities resulted in fusing of ancient and novel interpretational models guiding the faithful on their quest for personal salvation.

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