Wednesday, September 22, 2010

From the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures

The Indiana University Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures,
and the Russian and East European Institute

invite you to a lecture
by

Maria Carlson
Professor and Associate Chair
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
University of Kansas

The New Russian Paganism: 
Lessons from the Book of Veles

Thursday, September 23, 2010
4:00 – 5:15 p.m.
Ballantine Hall 003

Velesova kniga stands at the ideological epicenter of the growing
Russian neo-pagan “industry,” which reveres it as an “ancient, sacred, runic text” of the
late eighth or ninth century. This text has become an empty vessel that a nation searching for a “usable past” (and thus creating a different future) for itself is filling with new mythology. The presentation outlines the checkered history of the Book of Veles and examines its role in the attempt to craft a new, self-respecting Russian identity in the face of collapse of empire.

No comments:

Post a Comment