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Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic data from central Serbia, the article uses the concept of “esthetic formations” to consider how divergent expressions of Orthodox Christianity intersect in postsocialist space. The majority of Serbs identify as “Orthodox” and Orthodox imagery pervades the public sphere—but only a minority engage concertedly with liturgical practice. Through their regular fasting and churchgoing such self-identifying “believers” embody an Orthodox esthetic which is at once connected to—and yet distinct from—the overarching Orthodox cultural context. Whilst for churchgoers such embodiment represents sincerity and commitment, for many others it represents fanaticism and excessive piety. Overall, the article makes two claims. First, that “esthetic formations” are not internally rigid and that esthetics can divide as much as they unite. Second, that embodied esthetics allow different actors to articulate different moral claims about what constitutes sincere Orthodox practice.
Notes
1 Hilandar is the Serbian monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, a holy site of profound significance on the Serbian Orthodox spiritual landscape.
2 I am basing my arguments on central Serbia, where the population overwhelmingly identifies as Orthodox. Looked at in its entirety, Serbia is characterised by religious diversity, especially in the northern Vojvodina region. In Kraljevo there are a few Protestant denominations and even a Catholic church, but these minorities hardly shape the overarching Orthodox Christian feel of the place.
3 Whilst my research is focussed on post-Yugoslav Serbia, the processes I describe are not unique to this context. We can speculate that, broadly speaking, they are true of other postsocialist Orthodox countries. See Mitrofanova (Citation2018) and Benovska (Citation2021) on Russia, for instance.
4 https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/ (accessed 26 May 2020).
5 The data is available on the site of The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia in the document “Population by religion, by municipalities and cities”: http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/oblasti/popis/popis-2011/popisni-podaci-eksel-tabele (accessed 18 November 2018).
6 https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-commitment-and-practices/ (accessed 26 May 2020).
7 Although one should not assume that prior to Yugoslav socialism Serbs were especially active churchgoers. In the nineteenth century the Russian Slavophiles noted the laxity of Serbian practice, and its difference from Russian and Greek Orthodoxy. Serb religious practice had a patriarchal emphasis, concerned with preserving customs in the home and was less directly affected by Church dogma. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewer for reminding me of this point.
8 Vernici is plural (“believers”), whilst vernik is singular (“believer”). The term is not exclusivist or bounded: people who rarely attend church (and who can even be critical of the SOC) may also feel that “vernik” nevertheless best describes their religious identity. However, practising Orthodox would consistently describe themselves using this term.
9 Whilst the official script of Serbia is Cyrillic, Latin script is very widely understood, used and encountered in everyday life. Seeing itself as the preserver of national traditions, Church texts are always written in Cyrillic.
10 All names are pseudonyms.
11 The Serbian Orthodox Church retains use of the Julian Calendar, which is behind the Gregorian version by 13 days.
12 The evaluation of other people’s religiosity continues within the networks of people attending church more regularly. In churchgoing circles one encounters cutting terms such as “professional Orthodox” (profesionalini pravoslavac) directed at people who are perceived as living their Orthodoxy at the level of performative ritual but without sincere conviction. One man also spoke mockingly of “so-called believers” (tako-zvani vernici).
13 https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2017&mm=04&dd=14&nav_category=12&nav_id=1250498 (accessed 29 November 2018).
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nicholas lackenby
Nicholas Lackenby is a Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, University College London, working on a UKRI funded project entitled “Orthodox Christian Material Ecology and the Sociopolitics of Religion”. His doctoral work at the University of Cambridge focused on issues of peoplehood, temporality, and historical consciousness amongst Orthodox Christians in contemporary Serbia.[email protected]