C.2 Animism, shamanism and ethnic religions: ontologies of the Finno-Ugric peoples

According to all available data, Finno-Ugric peoples, before contacts with world religions, lived according to ontologies often called animistic, that are deeply rooted and whose characteristics are more or less visible nowadays. In some places so-called traditional religions are not only revitalised, but also institutionalised, in others there has been remarkable continuity with little or no interruption of religious practice, in others syncretic understandings leaves ample room to very deeply rooted practices.

The aim of this symposium is to raise different questions:

• Terminology: in Russian usually these phenomena are called “paganism”, which is a connoted term. But what alternatives do we have? Are Finno-Ugric ethnic religions forms of animism? Or should we define them primarily as ontologies?
• What is the present situation of these worldviews and religious practices all over the Finno-Ugric world? Are there sensitive interactions with social and political forces? Case studies will be welcome
• What is the situation of research about these phenomena? What is the position of the researcher, his or her influence on the field and the field’s influence on the researcher, outsidedness and insidedness? In particular, we would like to reflect about visual methods and controversies concerning them, openness and closeness, accessibility or privacy, even secrecy of rituals.
• How does interaction with world and other religions function nowadays? Can we consider these ontologies endangered? 

This symposium will be piloted by a pool of scholars – Laur Vallikivi, Tatiana Alybina, Nikolai Anisimov - under the responsibility of Eva Toulouze.

Eva Toulouze, Paris/Tartu, evatoulouze@gmail.com