Open AccessHow the Ritual of a City Holiday is changing: the Case of the Amur Tiger Day
Author(s) -
Natalya Yu. Malkova
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
inter/interakciâ. intervʹû. interpretaciâ
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2687-0401
pISSN - 2307-2075
DOI - 10.19181/inter.2020.12.2.3
Subject(s) - entertainment , recreation , meaning (existential) , action (physics) , perception , context (archaeology) , tiger , event (particle physics) , sociology , history , advertising , media studies , political science , psychology , law , archaeology , physics , computer security , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , computer science , business , psychotherapist
The article explores the city holiday Amur Tiger Day in Vladivostok, which originated as a civic initiative, and later became an official event. The history of the holiday invention and the socio-cultural context of the holiday idea formation are considered, the changes in the structure and the meaning of this holiday over time are analyzed. The hypothesis is formulated that a civil initiative, representing a type of social action, can provide the creation of meanings, their preservation in a group and their transfer to newcomers only if certain strict limits or “rituals” are observed. The conducted empirical research has shown that a deviation from the established ritual results not only distorts the original idea, but also produces a more formal attitude of participants to the event. It can also become a way to solve “external” problems that are completely unrelated to the event. The obtained data make possible to conclude that there is some discrepancy between the initial aim of the holiday to form a new way of life and its nowadays perception as a matter for recreation and entertainment. The city holiday as a social action is now deritualized and this influences the citizens’ perception of the holiday and their involvement in the action.