The Urban ritual year. Religion, ethnicity and ideology

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Miestas; Kalendorinės šventės; Religija; Etniškumas; Ideologija; City; Ritual year; Religion; Ethnicity; Ideology.

ENThis paper examines the urban ritual year, where it is possible to look the most clearly at the religious, ethnic, and ideological features and the changes in them over the course of time, focusing on four periods: Imperial Russia, independent Lithuania (1918-1940), the Soviet and German Nacional Socialist occupations (1940-1990), and the restored Lithuanian Republic. Greater attention is directed towards the contemporary situation in an attempt to compare the situation of Lithuania with those of the neighbouring states. The conclusion can be drawn that even in contemporary society, to a certain degree, we live in accordance with the religious calendar. Injected into it are secular state holidays that form the official ritual year, which has a national character and has close ties to ideology. The ritual year structure does not depend greatly on the religion predominant in the country. As was shown by a comparative investigation of several Eastern European countries, history and tradition have a greater impact on the character of the ritual year than the religious environment does. [From the publication]