Russia in the mirror of holidays.

Abstract

This article deals with the holiday calendar in contemporary Russia. Up to now, it has been customary among Russian ethnologists to speak of three periods of formation and radical transformation of the Russian calendar: a) during the introduction of Christendom, b) during the rule of Peter the Great, and c) in the years following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. It is now appropriate to add one more period of intense change: the present, post-Soviet era. An attempt is made to provide a classification of the numerous Russian holidays. The article also presents the results of an interview with a group of Moscovians; the interview was carried out in order to elucidate their attitudes to certain holidays.