The Phenomenon of Soviet Holiday

The article is aimed at studying theore­tical aspects of the concept of “holiday” in the context of the category of “social institution”; presenting the main etymological and substantive components of holiday — generally accepted and historically established rules and regulations, the order and way of action that are observed by virtue of well-established traditions, stereotypical behavior, etc. The article analyzes the specifics of holiday closely associated with the archetypal need for its existence, the ambivalence of holiday, its democracy, calendar character, magnitude, and entertainment. The authors study the functional significance of ho­liday. They demonstrate the role of holidays in sha­ping common experiences among actors of the social groups arising in the course of interaction, which in turn reinforce the individual experiences of parti­cipants and send them in a common direction, encou­raging joint active participation in the life of society. In terms of classification of Soviet holiday, the article identifies the following positions: national and revolutionary holidays, labor ones, traditional calendar-household ones, family-public ones, etc. The article considers the structure of Soviet holiday and its main elements, including the idea and event, moral and psychological content, social memory, principles of organization, and means of ideological and artistic expression.