Papers by Konrad Siekierski
This paper examines a new religious initiative of the Catholic Church in Poland, known as the Ext... more This paper examines a new religious initiative of the Catholic Church in Poland, known as the Extreme Way of the Cross (Ekstremalna Droga Krzyżowa). Launched in 2009 by Fr. Jacek Stryczek, one of the most recognizable Catholic priests in the country, the EDK has been announced as a " new form of spirituality ". Usually taking place a week before Easter, it is based on a few clear-cut principles: participants are to walk during the night in silence, individually or in small groups, along routes of 30 to 100 km, mostly through forests and fields. On the road, fourteen Stations of the Cross are designated where participants pray and read texts contemplating the Passion of the Christ and its relevance for Christians today. Started as a small-scale event, in just few years EDK has become a nationwide phenomenon, with more than 200 routes and 26000 registered participants in 2016. The paper examines this apparent success of EDK in the context of (post)modern culture with its focus on bodily movement and embodied experience. In particular, the author shows how EDK draws on this modern bias to promote a specific set of religiously motivated values, which combines subordination to the will of God with worldly activism and achievement motivation.
This chapter examines two religious feasts celebrated at Armenian shrines in Romania. It focuses ... more This chapter examines two religious feasts celebrated at Armenian shrines in Romania. It focuses on the historical context in which these feasts are embedded, as well as the acts, moods and discourses that currently sustain them. Furthermore, it argues that being in a diaspora—along with an attachment to a faraway homeland and participating in transnational networks—can also mean drawing upon and engaging in its own local heritage.
This chapter is based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Romania in March–August 2011 and June–September 2012, particularly in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Dumbrăveni, Iaşi, Gherla, Gheorgheni and Suceava. The fieldwork focused on the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, celebrated in mid-August in the monastery of Hagigadar in Suceava, and the Feast of St. Gregory the Illuminator, celebrated in June–July in the Armenian Catholic Holy Trinity Cathedral in Gherla.
This chapter discusses the historical foundations and the modern manifestations and implications ... more This chapter discusses the historical foundations and the modern manifestations and implications of the Armenian-Christian ethno-religion, as maintained and promoted by the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) in the post-Soviet Republic of Armenia. First, it examines a number of symbolic events and figures that constitute the Armenian-Christian “chain of memory” from the biblical Deluge to the Armenian genocide. Second, it presents and analyses selected examples of the modern discourse of the AAC, taken from the Church’s publications or collected during the author’s interviews with members of the clergy. The chapter concludes by locating the ethno-religion of the Armenian Apostolic Church within the wider frame of the current socio-religious situation in Armenia.
This paper examines the recent history and current situation of the Armenian Catholic Church from... more This paper examines the recent history and current situation of the Armenian Catholic Church from the vantage point of its in‑betweenness. The Armenian Catholics' liminal position in‑between the particularity and exclusiveness of the Armenian Christianity and the inclusiveness and expansionism of the Roman Catholicism have created diverse, often contradictory, politics of identity construction and representation; of cultural absorption and resistance; and of belonging and alienation. The paper takes a closer look at these politics at work in formulating, negotiating, and challenging a distinct character of this strand of Christianity in post‑Soviet Armenia and Georgia, where a large portion of Armenian Catholics live and where the Armenian Catholic Church came back to existence after it was banned for over six decades in the Soviet Union.
Despite growing academic interest in the new “native faiths” that have emerged in post-Socialist ... more Despite growing academic interest in the new “native faiths” that have emerged in post-Socialist space, Armenian Neopaganism has remained a largely unknown phenomenon.1 There is no single English-language analysis that covers this subject extensively, and the short hints on this matter cannot present its multi-dimensional character.2 This chapter will describe the his-tory and structure of the main Neopagan organization in Armenia—the Arordineri Ukht—and explore its interrelations with the dominant religious tradition in Armenia (Christianity, represented by the Armenian Apostolic Church), as well as analyze its nationalistic-dissident foundations and ties with nationalistic political and social movements. Finally, we will have a closer look at the Arordiner’s holy scripture—the Ukhtagirk—as well as on the most important elements of the worldview and ritual system of these Neopagans.
Religion, State and Society, Jan 1, 2012
Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity is without doubt one of the most dynamic and culturally sign... more Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity is without doubt one of the most dynamic and culturally significant contemporary religious phenomena. Not only is it the fastest-growing religious movement worldwide, but it has also permeated into the largest Christian tradition, Roman Catholicism, becoming a hallmark of what is known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR). In this article I discuss various aspects of CCR within the Catholic Church in Poland. First I describe briefly the history, structures and activities of Polish CCR and discuss controversies that surround it. Then I give a short account of my research in which I have focused on the narratives of life change offered by CCR members, interpreting this change in terms of religious conversion. Finally, I touch upon the issue of the internal diversity of contemporary Polish Catholicism, and show CCR’s spirituality, based on immediate personal contact with the sacred, as a noteworthy element of this phenomenon.
Books by Konrad Siekierski
Armenian culture is little known in Poland, both in academic circles and to a wider public. This ... more Armenian culture is little known in Poland, both in academic circles and to a wider public. This volume is an attempt at changing this situation by presenting a selection of studies by leading Armenian cultural anthropologists. In their contributions, the authors analyse a wide range of socio–cultural phenomena crucial for today’s Armenia, including: repatriation and forced migration, the Karabakh Movement and the fall of the USSR, memory about the Armenian Genocide, recent developments in urban and popular culture, and changes in the religious sphere. Apart from providing a fresh insight into these topics, the volume aims to stimulate interest in works by scholars from the former USSR.
This volume presents articles on the modern Armenian diaspora in post-socialist Europe, including... more This volume presents articles on the modern Armenian diaspora in post-socialist Europe, including the Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Specialists from the fields of cultural anthropology, sociology, and area studies offer their insights into current developments of Armenian communities which, although located within common post-socialist time-space, differ from one another significantly in terms of their historical background, identity politics, and socio-cultural characteristics.
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Papers by Konrad Siekierski
This chapter is based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Romania in March–August 2011 and June–September 2012, particularly in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Dumbrăveni, Iaşi, Gherla, Gheorgheni and Suceava. The fieldwork focused on the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, celebrated in mid-August in the monastery of Hagigadar in Suceava, and the Feast of St. Gregory the Illuminator, celebrated in June–July in the Armenian Catholic Holy Trinity Cathedral in Gherla.
Books by Konrad Siekierski
This chapter is based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Romania in March–August 2011 and June–September 2012, particularly in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Dumbrăveni, Iaşi, Gherla, Gheorgheni and Suceava. The fieldwork focused on the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, celebrated in mid-August in the monastery of Hagigadar in Suceava, and the Feast of St. Gregory the Illuminator, celebrated in June–July in the Armenian Catholic Holy Trinity Cathedral in Gherla.