Old Belief on the background of religious life in Ukraine in the 19th – early 20th centuries: historiography of the issue

Abstract

The main directions of historical research in the 19th–21th centuries are discussed. The
peculiarities of the historiographical tradition of studying the issues of Old Believers of the Orthodox
Church and their interaction with each other are revealed. It is discovered that pre-revolutionary
studies covered these issues in passing. Pre-revolutionary historiography presented a sufficiently
large number of researchers, they were diverse in case studies. Religious life was controlled by
government officials and the Church throughout the country, not taking into account the large territory
of the country and people of different religious denominations. In general, the question of Old Belief
was given much attention by scholars, but in Soviet times this practice ceased.
The Soviet researchers of historical professions studied superficially both religion and Old
Believers. A characteristic feature was the traditional anti-clerical approach in all the works of Soviet
authors. All scientific works considered the problem only one-sidedly and from the standpoint of
ideological bias. Soviet society called for the stabilization of life, and if a person was a religious
person or an Old Believer, the government officials forced the renunciation of a religious faith and
religious convictions. Apparently, this was the reason why a small number of studies of religion and
Old Believers appeared in the Soviet period. It is concluded that the key researcher insights were
significant in the post-Soviet period.
After independence of Ukraine among Ukrainian historians, interest in studying history and
Old Belief increased. A difficult task for Ukrainian historians is a departure from the Soviet period and the adoption of a new methodological approach that will differ from the traditional imperial
representation. In the field of interests of historians are revealed such issues as settling and population,
missionary activities and the religious community of Old Believers. However, the issues of spiritual,
social and economic life of Old Believer communities still remain open. The prospects of further
study of this topic in domestic science are illustrated.
Keywords: historiography, the Orthodox Church, schism, Old Belief