The Russian Ritual Year and Folklore Through Tourist Advertising
THE RUSSIAN RITUAL YEAR AND FOLKLORE THROUGH TOURIST ADVERTISING IRINA SEDAKOVA This article analyzes the ritual year in modern Russia as Članek analizira praznično leto v moderni Rusiji, kot ga reflected in tourism spam letters circulated between 2005 odsevajo turistična oglasna sporočila med letoma 2005 in and 2012. These texts are the main source of data for this 2012. Tovrstna besedila so glavni vir podatkov za to študijo, study because they illustrate major tendencies in govern- saj odsevajo pomembnejše tendence vladnih, komercialnih mental, commercial, and individual attitudes towards in individualnih pogledov na ruske tradicionalne šege in Russian traditional customs and official holidays. They also uradne praznike. Prikazujejo tudi, kako se ohranja in demonstrate how local heritage is being maintained and rekonstruira lokalna dediščina in kako se pojavljajo in reconstructed, and how new myths and customs are appear- razvijajo novi miti in rituali, kot jih zahtevajo potrebe ing and developing to suit the needs of domestic tourism, a domačega turizma. special ethnographic calendrical type. Ključne besede: Rusija, praznično leto, pust, oglaševanje, Keywords: Russia, ritual year, carnival, advertising, tour- turistična antropologija, semiotika. ism anthropology, semiotics. INTRODUCTION This article focuses on the revitalization and re-invention of calendrical ritual celebrations in modern Russian provincial cities as a reciprocal process introduced by local authorities and tourist developers to motivate domestic tourists. This study touches on many sub- disciplines within anthropology, folklore, and linguistics. The topic partly fits into the anthropology of tourism, an academic discipline well established in Europe and the U.S. (core works are published in Smith 1989, Nash 1996, and Nash 2007 et al., but not yet presented in Russian academic investigation and teaching1).
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