Folk Religion in Transformation: A Religious Studies Perspective Based on Examples from Romania

The present study deals with some changes identifiable on the level of folk religion, i.e., of the religious expression of ordinary people. Its premises are that folk religion is a subsegment of religion, fulfilling specific functions which official or elite religion fail to satisfy. The paper lies...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Main Author: Pătru, Alina 1978- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: MDPI 2022
In: Religions
Further subjects:B religion in Romania
B vernacular religion / folk / popular
B New Age
B Religious Transformation
B cognitively optimal religion
B Religious Change
B New Spiritualities
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Rights Information:InC 1.0
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Summary:The present study deals with some changes identifiable on the level of folk religion, i.e., of the religious expression of ordinary people. Its premises are that folk religion is a subsegment of religion, fulfilling specific functions which official or elite religion fail to satisfy. The paper lies on a theoretical grounding stemming mainly from the Scandinavian school of comparative religion and folkloristics and applies these theories to examples from Romania. In this way, the specific functions of folk religion are analyzed, and the question is asked how these needs come to be met once people detach from the rural values. It is found that individuals which have lost their connection to traditions also head with their needs to cognitively lees costly religious forms, this time to global forms, which had become contents of the now enlarged pool of tradition. These contents are actualized in accordance with the concrete personal needs. In different forms of new spiritualities many characteristics of folk religion can be identified, moreover, they take similar roles. This demonstrates that folk religion has its own dynamism, transforming to reflect social and cultural change.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.15496/publikation-90846
DOI: 10.3390/rel13100991
HDL: 10900/149506