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On the Good Faith

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On the Good Faith On the Good Faith Zoroastrianism is ascribed to the teachings of the legendary prophet Zarathustra and originated in ancient times. It was developed within the area populated by the Iranian peoples, and following the Arab conquest, it formed into a diaspora. In modern Russia it has evolved since the end of the Soviet era. It has become an attractive object of cultural produc- tion due to its association with Oriental philosophies and religions and its rearticulation since the modern era in Europe. The lasting appeal of Zoroastrianism evidenced by centuries of book pub- lishing in Russia was enlivened in the 1990s. A new, religious, and even occult dimension was introduced with the appearance of neo-Zoroastrian groups with their own publications and online websites (dedicated to Zoroastrianism). This study focuses on the intersectional relationships and topical analysis of different Zoroastrian themes in modern Russia. On the Good Faith A Fourfold Discursive Construction of Zoroastrianism in Contemporary Russia Anna Tessmann Anna Tessmann Södertörns högskola SE-141 89 Huddinge [email protected] www.sh.se/publications On the Good Faith A Fourfold Discursive Construction of Zoroastrianism in Contemporary Russia Anna Tessmann Södertörns högskola 2012 Södertörns högskola SE-141 89 Huddinge www.sh.se/publications Cover Image: Anna Tessmann Cover Design: Jonathan Robson Layout: Jonathan Robson & Per Lindblom Printed by E-print, Stockholm 2012 Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations 68 ISSN 1652-7399 ISBN 978-91-86069-50-6 Avhandlingar utgivna vid Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion, Göteborgs universitet 25 ISBN 978-91-88348-47-0 Contents Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Point of departure and previous research ............................................................................. 4 1.2. Aims, scope and delimitations of the study ........................................................................ 10 1.3. Outline of the thesis ................................................................................................................ 13 1.4. Sources and selection procedure ........................................................................................... 14 1.5. Notes on transliteration ......................................................................................................... 14 1.6. Religion in Russia in the 1990s and 2000s ........................................................................... 16 1.7. Theoretical background: discourses and vertical transfers ............................................... 26 1.8. Discourse analysis as method ................................................................................................ 35 Chapter 2: Zoroastrianism in the frame of religious practice ........................................................ 39 2.1. Zoroastrian voices and their resonances ............................................................................. 39 2.2. Information flood: books, periodicals, translations, and Internet presence .................. 48 2.2.1. Words of the Master Pavel Globa ................................................................................ 49 2.2.2. Group activity: The St. Petersburg magazine Mitra and the community messenger Tiri .......................................................................................................................... 53 2.2.3. Internet mission of the Russian Anjoman .................................................................. 56 2.2.4. A step aside: Kosmoenergetika and other NRMs ....................................................... 57 2.3. Formal structures .................................................................................................................... 58 2.4. Selected topics .......................................................................................................................... 70 2.4.1. Between secret doctrine and universal religion ......................................................... 70 2.4.2. The “Good religion” and the destiny of Russia ......................................................... 79 2.4.3. A religious ideal: Being Zoroastrian ............................................................................ 88 2.4.4. The Avesta and other holy books ................................................................................ 92 2.4.5. Zoroastrianism confronting other religions .............................................................. 94 2.5. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 99 Chapter 3: Zoroastrianism in the Russian academic discourse ................................................... 107 3.1. A historiographical perspective on Zoroastrianism ......................................................... 108 3.1.1. Zoroastrian texts translated into Russian ................................................................. 113 3.1.2. Zoroastrianism and social-economic history .......................................................... 117 ANNA TESSMANN—ON THE GOOD FAITH 3.1.3. The reception of Western scholarly works .............................................................. 122 3.2. Contemporary Zoroastrianism in Iranian studies and the study of religion ............... 124 3.2.1. Scholarly skepticism surrounding neo-Zoroastrians ............................................. 124 3.2.2. Russian Zoroastrianism as a pagan religion ............................................................ 130 3.2.3. An extinct or a living religion? ................................................................................... 133 3.3. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 136 Chapter 4: Zoroastrianism within the journalistic field ................................................................ 139 4.1. New mass media and Zoroastrianism ................................................................................ 139 4.2. A media kaleidoscope: thematic convergence .................................................................. 147 4.3. Media events and media actors ........................................................................................... 149 4.4. Zoroastrianism as a main reference ................................................................................... 154 4.5. Sharing mass media space with other religions ................................................................ 157 4.6. Journalistic evaluation .......................................................................................................... 158 4.7. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 159 Chapter 5: Zoroastrianism in contemporary Russian fiction ...................................................... 163 5.1. Religion in Russian fiction in times of change .................................................................. 163 5.2. Thus spoke the Russian Zarathustra .................................................................................. 169 5.3. Zarathushtra in the context of European discourses ....................................................... 173 5.4. Zoroastrianism in past, present, and future modes ......................................................... 181 5.4.1. The past: ancient Persia and magic ........................................................................... 182 5.4.2. The present: petroleum and mirrors ......................................................................... 190 5.4.3. The future: star wars and love for the motherland ................................................. 195 5.5. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 199 Chapter 6: Zoroastrianism in modern Russia: studying discourses and transfers .................... 205 6.1. Zoroastrianism in a mirror: its images in contemporary texts ...................................... 206 6.2. Descriptive strategies and discursive modes ..................................................................... 213 6.3. Studying contexts and some comments on method ........................................................ 216 References ............................................................................................................................................ 221 Appendix .............................................................................................................................................. 237 Selected materials to Chapter 2: ................................................................................................. 237 Websites: .................................................................................................................................. 237 Books, articles, scripts: ..........................................................................................................
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