Article

Name: History and typology of the spiritual verse of Old Believers Book review: Murashova N. S. Old Believers spiritual verse in the context of the historical evolution of non-ecclesiastical spiritual singing. Novosibirsk, NSPU Publ., 2019, 371 p.

Authors: A. M. Petrov

Karelian Research Centre RAS, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation

In the section Review

Abstract: The review considers the book by N. S. Murashova about Old Believers’ spiritual verse. The difficulties of studying the genre are listed, and the need for considering the spiritual verses of Old Believers in a wide cultural context is noted. The advantages of the work are highlighted: wide coverage of material and problems, use of reliable sources, analysis of texts in an interdisciplinary aspect. Questions and problems for a scientific discussion are proposed: the specifics of the development of all-Russian folk plots among Old Believers, the difficulties in classification of characters, the need for a systematic representation of the geocultural space of spiritual verses with a detailed commentary, the eschatological ideas of Old Believers, the cyclical and linear time in the picture of the world of Old Believers, the compilation of a world history chronology according to the texts of Old Believers. It is concluded that the monograph presented is of interest and will contribute to fruitful discussions on the key issues of studying the Old Believers spiritual verse.

Keywords: spiritual verse, Old Believers, eschatology, religion, folklore, spiritual music

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