Eating, Eschatology, Expectation: Fasting and Salvation in Serbian Orthodox Christianity

Lackenby, Nicholas

doi:10.1080/00141844.2021.1920623

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 10 publications

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“…The rapacious quest for “this‐worldly treasures” leads away from the eternal, not toward it (Radojević 2018, 313). One friend criticized her neighbors for slaughtering a pig in December, during the Nativity fast, a time when eating meat is prohibited (see Lackenby 2023a, 875). Such indulgent, festive behavior, she muttered darkly, clouded a view of eternity.…”

Section: Earning Eternitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evoking Eternity

Lackenby

2024

Cult. Anthropol.

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This article approaches the idea of eternity ethnographically. Specifically, it turns to post-Yugoslav central Serbia and the version of eternity (večnost) evoked by practicing Orthodox Christians in their daily lives. In this context, the eternal does not imply the everlastingness of persons and things in this life, or an inevitable cyclical “return.” Rather, eternity constitutes a dimension outside of time that sits alongside the present, a dimension that can be inhabited by ancestors and departed kin. In evoking eternity, people throw temporal life into relief, find solace in the face of death, and engage in the national community those no longer physically present. Against an essentializing view of the eternal as repetition or stasis, the article speculates about how evoking eternity is socially and politically generative, imbuing life with increased imaginative possibilities. АПСТРАКТ Овај чланак приступа идеји вечности са етнографске тачке гледишта. To се осврће на верзију вечности (eternity) евоцирану од стране православних хришћанских верника у свакодневном животу, а на територији централне Србије, у пост-југословенском периоду. У овом контексту, вечност се не односи на трајанје особа и ствари у овом животу, или на неизбежни циклични повратак. Вечност је пре димензија ван времена која постоји поред садашњости, димензија која може бити настањена прецима или почившим ближњима. Евоцирајући вечност, људи истичу привремени овоземаљски живот, налазећи утеху у суочавању са смрћу и тако повезују са заједницом оне који више нису физички присутни. Противно виђењу вечности – као нечему што је понављање или застој – овај чланак посматра социјални и политички потенцијал евоцирања вечности, као прожимање живота појачаним маштовитим могућностима. APSTRAKT Ovaj članak pristupa ideji večnosti sa etnografske tačke gledišta. To se osvrće na verziju večnosti (eternity) evociranu od strane pravoslavnih hrišćanskih vernika u svakodnevnom životu, a na teritoriji centralne Srbije, u post-jugoslovenskom periodu. U ovom kontekstu, večnost se ne odnosi na trajanje osoba i stvari u ovom životu, ili na neizbežni ciklični povratak. Večnost je pre dimenzija van vremena koja postoji pored sadašnjosti, dimenzija koja može biti nastanjena precima ili počivšim bližnjima. Evocirajući večnost, ljudi ističu privremeni ovozemaljski život, nalazeći utehu u suočavanju sa smrću i tako povezuju sa zajednicom one koji više nisu fizički prisutni. Protivno viđenju večnosti - kao nečemu što je ponavljanje ili zastoj - ovaj članak posmatra socijalni i politički potencijal evociranja večnosti, kao prožimanje života pojačanim maštovitim mogučnostima.

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Section: Earning Eternitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evoking Eternity

Lackenby

2024

Cult. Anthropol.

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‘Re-enchantment’ and religious change in former socialist Europe

Ładykowska,

Teisenhoffer,

Testa

2024

Religion

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Apophatic love, contagion, and surveillance: Orthodox Christian responses to the global pandemic

Carroll

Lackenby

Gorbanenko

2022

Anthropology & Medicine

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As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Orthodox Christians globally reacted to the possibility of contagion and risk in dialogue with theological positions about materials, their own long history which includes surviving previous pandemics and plagues, governmental and civil expectations and edicts, and pious -but often unofficial -understandings about protection and the sacrality of religious artefacts and the space of the temple. This article draws upon primary ethnographic research amongst Orthodox Christians in the UK, Serbia, Greece and Russia, as well as news articles about and primary ecclesiastical documents from Orthodox Churches more widely, to highlight commonalities and divergences in Orthodox Christian responses to the pandemic. Examining both the theological basis, and socio-political differences, this article considers how the Orthodox theology of apophaticism and relationality impacts wider discourses of contagion (both positive and negative), and consequently compliance with public health initiatives. Comparison across diverse Orthodox settings suggests that Orthodox Christians are concerned with the neighbour -both in terms of who may be watching (and reporting) them, and who may fall sick because of them.Orthodox Christianity is a 'tactile and sensual religion' (Dubisch 1995:61), wherein the bodily engagement of the faithful is an aspect within every part of religious practice. The touching of icons and relics as well as bodily practices such as prostrations or the kissing of the priest's hand are highly normative aspects of public devotion. Orthodox temples are filled with icons, and large temples, or those in city centres, often have cleaning regimes in place to wipe the lipstick smudges from prominent icons. Relics, often the bodily remains of saints, are also common in Orthodox monasteries, parishes and, in some cases, homes. Particularly important relics -either because of their reputation for performing miracles, or because of the popularity of the saint -are often taken on tours, making it easier for the faithful in foreign countries to pay pilgrimage to these great saints and venerate them.For example, in March 2020, the right arm of St George the Victory-Bearer made a tour of Great Britain. On his tour, he came to visit a small Greek parish in northeast London. St George was accompanied by four monks from the monastery of Xenophontos, on Mt Athos in Greece, and after visiting parishes in Scotland and northern England, they visited two parishes in London. They arrived in the afternoon, and the parish was opened for people

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Eating, Eschatology, Expectation: Fasting and Salvation in Serbian Orthodox Christianity

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Evoking Eternity

Evoking Eternity

‘Re-enchantment’ and religious change in former socialist Europe

Apophatic love, contagion, and surveillance: Orthodox Christian responses to the global pandemic

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