The religious situation in the Soviet village. Experience of microhistorical research

Abstract

In the light of the Year of National Cultures and Traditions announced in the Republic of Tatarstan in 2023, the relevance of historical knowledge about individual ethno-regional loci is undeniable, which allows us to show the degree of preservation of the traditional origin in it on the real layer of culture. The purpose of the work is to analyze the role of the religious factor in the Soviet period in the life of one of the ancient Tatar villages – Novoe Nadyrovo Almetyevsk district. The objectives of the research are to reveal the factors and realities of the transformation of religious consciousness in the Soviet period since more than 70 in-depth interviews conducted in the village. From time immemorial, Islam has played a consolidating role in the life of the rural community, providing a system of strong ethical and moral foundations; despite the anti-religious policy of the Soviet state, the role of religion in the life of society has been preserved. The prism of microhistoric research conducted by the method of oral history seems to be very functionally effective for interpreting the retrospective of the twentieth century. It serves the non-opportunistic scientific connotations of history, which was subjected to powerful ideologization in Soviet historiography and, because of this, largely distorted the picture of the civilizational space.