За вярата на баба Тодорка от с. Хасан – Батър в Украйна. Религията в постсоциалистическото всекидневие на бесарабските българи
On the faith of grandma Todorka from the village of Hasan-Batar in Ukraine: Religion in the postsocialist time of the Bulgarians from Bessarabia

Summary/Abstract: Religion with its various manifestations in everyday practice and local tradition is one of the most significant aspects of the adaptation and cultural development of the Bulgarians from Bessarabia as early as the time of their settlement. In the early XXI century the culture in their communities presents to ethnology extremely interesting and important themes and issues undoubtedly involving the religious thinking and behaviour. The emergence of the independent states Ukraine and Moldova and the formation of their national policies in the complex social-economic and ethno-cultural situation of the post- Soviet space resulted in various community strategies of the small ethnic groups aimed at their survival and identity preservation. The revival of the „traditional“ Orthodoxy as well the triggering of new religious movements after the atheism imposed until 1991 has been marked by a continuous search of comfort in the faith during the long and hard period of transition. The author explores some of the factors influencing the identification of the Bulgarian settlers in Ukraine, as seen through the personal destiny and religious experience of a Bulgarian woman from the village of Hassan-Batar (today Vinogradnoe), Bolgarski region, the region of Odessa. Practicing, defending and having loyalty to the faith of ancestors in this case becomes a point of intersection between various social, political and cultural processes in community. The deep and intimate character of this faith and the numerous life experiences of grandma Todorka (Nedova Fedorova Nikolaevna, р. 1932) from Hassan-Batar for renovating the village church in the 90s in the ХХ century reveal the connections religion has to a number of other spheres of the everyday life of the Bulgarians form Bessarabia. Hence the role of religion is defined as an important identification marker and self-expression in/of the community at the verge between ХХ and ХХІ c.

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