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  • In the mid-twentieth century scholars in the United States began to examine American society through the lens of civil religion, a term first coined by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the eighteenth century. Although much of the discussion focused on civil religion in the US, other scholars began to recognise that a civil religion also existed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. While American civil religion developed organically within all strata of society, it can be argued that in the Soviet Union there was a deliberate strategy to use civil religion as a tool to replace established religion, and to create a single sense of Soviet identity among a geographically-dispersed and ethnically-diverse population. Most studies on Soviet civil religion have focused on communist rites and rituals, and the ‘cult’ of Lenin. Few scholars have examined the elaborate system of symbols that were essential to reinforcing Soviet civil religion so that it became an everyday aspect of life in the USSR. This thesis seeks to fill that gap by examining the simvolika, or set of symbols, of the Soviet Union. While the official state symbols included the Soviet flag, state emblem, and national anthem, the set of symbols that were vital to the practice of Soviet civil religion was much more extensive. This study will examine the usage of an array of flags, seals, symbolic elements, imagery, and motifs that were essential to the socialisation of children and the reinforcement of Soviet civil religion in adulthood. Finally, it will examine the symbolic legacies of the USSR in the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.

  • In the mid-twentieth century scholars in the United States began to examine American society through the lens of civil religion, a term first coined by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the eighteenth century. Although much of the discussion focused on civil religion in the US, other scholars began to recognise that a civil religion also existed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. While American civil religion developed organically within all strata of society, it can be argued that in the Soviet Union there was a deliberate strategy to use civil religion as a tool to replace established religion, and to create a single sense of Soviet identity among a geographically-dispersed and ethnically-diverse population. Most studies on Soviet civil religion have focused on communist rites and rituals, and the 'cult' of Lenin. Few scholars have examined the elaborate system of symbols that were essential to reinforcing Soviet civil religion so that it became an everyday aspect of life in the USSR. This thesis seeks to fill that gap by examining the simvolika, or set of symbols, of the Soviet Union. While the official state symbols included the Soviet flag, state emblem, and national anthem, the set of symbols that were vital to the practice of Soviet civil religion was much more extensive. This study will examine the usage of an array of flags, seals, symbolic elements, imagery, and motifs that were essential to the socialisation of children and the reinforcement of Soviet civil religion in adulthood. Finally, it will examine the symbolic legacies of the USSR in the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union "An adaptation of the doctoral thesis in history submitted as part of the requirements for the PhD degree at the University of Leicester (UK), 2021".,

  • Published in Chicago in 1861, “Down with the Traitors’ Serpent Flag” is one of thousands of political parlor songs from the American Civil War. Many of these songs are unremarkable musically and were preserved in homes, archives, and museum collections largely for their vibrant illustrations. In my presentation I examine this song’s lithographic cover illustration—a Union soldier grinding a Confederate flag into the dust—within a broader discourse of Civil War flag imagery taken from songs, political cartoons, and cartes-de-visite. Compelling secrets exist within this colorful image that may not first meet the eye; to uncover these meanings along with the ways in which they operated for 19th-century audiences, I address how citizens used flags as material objects and signs in a wider social context. I argue that this defiled flag can be seen as a symbol of nation and state, as a reminder of the female presence in war, and as a surrogate for the wounded or even deceased human body. By utilizing flag culture to interrogate objects in an art historical or visual culture context, this presentation argues that vexillology should be accepted by the larger scholarly community not only as an independent discipline but as a theoretical approach to the allied fields of art history, material culture, and cultural studies.

Last update from database: 11/12/26, 4:10 AM (UTC)

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