Russian Ethnic Groups, Language, Religion, and Culture - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Russian Ethnic Groups, Language, Religion, and Culture

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Title: Russian Ethnic Groups, Language, Religion, and Culture


1
Russian Ethnic Groups, Language, Religion, and
Culture
C/Maj Josh Clegg 645 XP/CC
2
Overview
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Language
  • Religion
  • Culture
  • Questions

3
Diverse Area
  • Approx 290 million people live in the former
    Soviet area (Russia is largest w/ 141 million)
  • 150 distinct nationalities
  • 125 different languages
  • 40 religions
  • 6 major ethnic groups (Slavs, Turco-Tartars,
    Japhetics, Finno-Ugrians, Balts, Jews)

4
Overview
5
Slavs
  • Largest percentage of people in the area are
    Slavs
  • Three types
  • Great Russians
  • Ukranians (Little Russians)
  • Belarusians (White Russians)

6
Turco-Tartars
  • Live primarily in Central Asia
  • Azeris
  • Bashkirs
  • Chuvash
  • Crimean Tatars
  • Kazakhs
  • Kazan Tatars
  • Kyrgyz
  • Turkmen
  • Uzbeks

7
Japhetics
  • Live in the Caucasus area
  • Abkhazians
  • Armenians
  • Georgians

8
Finno-Ugrians
  • Extreme NW corner of Soviet Union
  • Estonians
  • Finns
  • Karelians
  • Mordavians

9
Balts
  • Live in those states by the Baltic Sea
  • Latvians
  • Lithuanians

10
Languages
  • Over 120 languages were spoken in USSR
  • Discrimination on the basis of language was
    illegal, however their statuses were far from
    equal
  • Lenin felt a national language was not necessary
  • Russian was the language of interethnic
    communication, de facto official language, made
    official in 1990!
  • All language groups were strongly encouraged to
    write in the Cyrillic alphabet (since 1991, many
    have decided to return to their formal written
    language)

11
Russian
12
Russian
13
Cyrillic Alphabet
  • The Cyrillic alphabet is named after St. Cyril, a
    missionary from Byzantium. It was invented
    sometime during the 10th century AD, possibly by
    St. Kliment of Ohrid, to write the Old Church
    Slavonic language. The Cyrillic alphabet achieved
    its current form in 1708 during the reign of
    Peter the Great. Four letters were eliminated
    from the alphabet in a 1917/18 reform.
  • The Cyrillic alphabet has been adapted to write
    over 50 different languages, mainly in Russia,
    Central Asia and Eastern Europe. In many cases
    additional letters are used, some of which are
    adaptations of standard Cyrillic letters, while
    others are taken from the Greek or Latin
    alphabets.

14
Religion
  • USSR was officially an atheist state (only 1/3
    professed religious belief, 1/2 professed atheism)
  • Lenin said, Religion is the opium of the people
    this saying of Marx is the cornerstone of the
    entire ideology of Marxism about religion. All
    modern religions and churches, all and of every
    kind of religious organizations are always
    considered by Marxism as the organs of bourgeois
    reaction, used for the protection of the
    exploitation and the stupefaction of the working
    class.
  • Major religions were
  • Christianity (Eastern Orthodox)
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
  • Judaism

Russian Orthodox Cathedral
15
Russian Orthodox Church
  • The Soviet authorities sought to control it and
    exploit it, although their ultimate goal was to
    eliminate it
  • By 1941 only 500 churches remained open out of
    about 54,000 in existence prior to WWI
  • Stalin used the Church during WWII to arouse
    patriotism to defeat the Nazis, number grew to
    22,000
  • Krushchev launched a campaign to lessen its power
    when he came to office
  • In the late 1980s, the Russian Orthodox church
    had roughly 50 million followers, but only 7,000
    registered churches (4,000 in Ukraine)

16
Russian Orthodox Church
  • Like all Orthodox churches, places an emphasis on
    preservation rather than adapting its doctrines
    and practices throughout time
  • Its followers take great pride that their
    practices and ceremonies have been the same for
    over 1,000 yrs
  • Great Schism of 1054 Eastern churches broke with
    church in Rome, this began the divide between the
    Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches
  • Main cause of the Schism was over papal authority
  • Also split along doctrinal, theological,
    linguistic, political, and geographical lines

17
Russian Orthodox Church
  • Buildings differ in design from many western-type
    churches. Firstly, their interiors are enriched
    with many sacramental objects including holy
    icons, which are hung on the walls. Murals often
    cover most of the interior. Some of these images
    represent the Theotokos, saints, and scenes from
    their lives.
  • There are no pews. Most churches are lit with
    candles rather than electric light. Virtually all
    churches have multiple votive candle stands in
    front of the icons as well.
  • Sometimes the bottoms of crosses found in Russian
    Orthodox churches will be adorned with a
    crescent. Tsar Ivan the Terrible conquered the
    city of Kazan which had been under the rule of
    Muslim Tatars, and in remembrance of this, he
    decreed that from henceforth the Islamic crescent
    be placed at the bottom of the crosses to signify
    the victory of the cross (Christianity) over the
    crescent (Islam).

18
Russian Orthodox Church
St. Andrews Church
St. Basils Cathedral
19
Russian Culture
  • Very rich and colorful, has greatly influenced
    other cultures around the world as well
  • Known for
  • Food
  • Literature
  • Music
  • Ballet
  • Figure skating
  • Matryoshka dolls

20
Russian Food
  • Rich and varied due to the vast and multicultural
    expanse of Russia
  • Crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet provide
    for a plethora of breads, cereals, kvass, and
    vodka
  • Its location along the Silk Road as well as its
    proximity to Ottoman and Persian Empires gives
    most foods an Eastern character to cooking
    methods
  • Common foods include
  • Borscht, shchi, kasha, blini, caviar, shashlyk,
    beef stoganoff

21
Russian Food
Shchi
Borscht
Borscht
Vodka
Caviar
22
Russian Literature
  • During mid-1800s, literature and the arts began
    flourishing, novels and plays became an important
    aspect of culture
  • The Golden Age began with the poet Aleksandr
    Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky
    followed with the great novels. Playwright Anton
    Chekhov followed

23
Russian Music
  • Russia has a long history of classical music
    innovation
  • Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) was the first to add
    religious and folk elements to classical
    compositions
  • Other prominent Russian composers include
    Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and in the 20th
    century Stravinsky who is best known for his
    ballets

24
Russian Ballet
  • Very important aspect of Russian culture
  • Became very popular in Russia during Tsarist rule
  • Some of the best dancers in the world come from
    Russia
  • Swan Lake
  • The Nutcracker

25
Russian Figure Skating
  • Soviet Union began to dominate the scene in
    mid-1960s, especially in pair skating
  • At every Winter Olympics since 64, a Soviet or
    Russian pair has won gold, often considered the
    longest winning streak in modern sports history

26
Matryoshka Dolls
  • A set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one
    inside another. "Matryoshka" is a derivative of
    the Russian female first name "Matryona", which
    is traditionally associated with a fat, robust,
    rustic Russian woman.
  • Matryoshka dolls usually follow a particular
    theme from peasant girls in traditional dress,
    to fairy tale characters and even Soviet leaders
  • Relatively new handicraft, first ones dated from
    1890

27
Matryoshka Dolls
28
Summary
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Language
  • Religion
  • Culture

29
Questions
30
Sources
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Sovi
    et_Union
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Sovie
    t_Union
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Chur
    ch
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_culture
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Russia
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll
  • http//www.ivodka.com/kamchatka.html
  • http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cuisine
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