Import substitution gingerbread houses
Andrei Desnitsky about why we hold other people’s holiday symbols.
Say, this New “Irony of fate” will move from the first to the second channel. The Soviet myth of the eternal return to the street Builders are not gone from the air but made the room slightly. It seems that last year’s “blue lights” with stars of the very late Brezhnev era, after all someone got. Look for a glorious future in a glorious past — it’s fun, but not very promising, and young minds it engenders the suspicion that there was no future really will be.
But on the other hand, stores all more than new year and Christmas Souvenirs the Western model. Everywhere in abundance plastic Santa Claus “made in China”, it seems they have finally ousted and the Soviet Santa clauses, and especially of St. Nicholas of Myra — he actually was the historical character, which popular culture has transformed into Santa Claus.
Winter holidays is a timeless example of how Russia is trying to catch up with the West, wants to find again his “special way”.
Peter takes the New year on the first of January (in the Church calendar “new year” is still observed on the first of September), goes to the chronology of the Nativity (it was the creation of the world), borrowed from Northern Europe, the Christmas tree and fireworks, and indeed the custom of celebrating this day is noisy. And, like many other Petrine innovations for age-another all not just survives, but becomes an integral part of the “old Russian way of life”.
The Bolsheviks canceled the Christmas tree and new year together with “world of violence”. And then suddenly: as, the children in capitalist countries have a Jolly winter holiday with gifts, and the young proletarians and farmers are deprived of this joy?
Exactly what motivates the return of the Christmas tree, in his article in the newspaper “Pravda” three days before the 1936 new year Pavel Postyshev. In 1939, the year Postysheva shot, but the tree never canceled.
So New year’s became a kind of Soviet version of the Nativity, star of Bethlehem on the Christmas tree gave way to the Kremlin, and was introduced to the masses, the Santa Claus of Slavic fairy tales as a replacement for Santa Claus. Yes, Santa Claus was a Soviet invention, before the revolution presents to Russian children is usually brought on Christmas the Christ child. Recall that Nekrasov frost-the Governor, bypassing their possessions, anyone any gifts brings, but rather giving me a lot of trouble. Or as the same Nekrasova he freezes to death a woman Daria… the Word in Slavic mythology this was initially the way the terrible winter elements, unrelated to the calendar holiday.
See, in the harsh Soviet years, the Communists didn’t just shove the holiday, they took from Nordic tradition that forgot to take out of it Peter: fairy tale of Santa with a bag of gifts. And when in the post-Soviet time the official calendar is back Christmas, it shifted the tradition to celebrate the new year. Moreover, the Christmas took on new year’s features: so, today most common for the Russian Orthodox was the night Christmas Liturgy. In fact, there is no reason to serve it that night, and in pre-revolutionary Russia so not usually did — just have merged in the minds of men Christmas with the New year, which is one, begins to be transferred to another.