ETHNOCULTURAL PROCESSES AMONG MOLOKANS OF OMSK REGION (20TH – FIRST QUARTER OF THE 21ST CENTURY)

Abstract

Ethnocultural processes among Molokans living in rural areas of Omsk region and the city of Omsk in the 20th – the first quarter of the 21st century are considered. The research sources used were materials from ethnographic expeditions conducted in the Odessa and Novovarshavsky districts of the Omsk region, as well as documentary sources stored in the Historical Archives of the Omsk Region. The author has established that the main reason for the formation of places of compact residence of  Molokans in the south of Omsk region was peasant migrations at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1920s an officially registered community of Molokans was founded in Omsk, but a change in the religious policy of the USSR in the second half of the 1930s led to its closure. Unlike in the city, the Molokans' informal religious life in rural areas continued uninterrupted until the early 21st century. A characteristic feature of their rural life was the persistence of associated folk traditions, which remained most persistent in family rituals and food culture. At the same time, the name "Molokans" has turned into a kind of collective nickname for rural residents, which at present is more characterized not by their religious affiliation, but by the community of origin.