Religious community in modern cultural space: transformation of identity and memorial practices

This article discusses the problem of transformation of memorial practices of religious community in the context of modern cultural space. The subject of research is the memorial practices of religious communities, while the main goal is to determine their specificity in terms of intensification of post-secular trends and individualization of culture. The author reveals the initial correlation of religious community with the processes of maintaining collective identity and the ways of preserving collective remembrances; and later analyzes the process of their changeability, highlights the development stages and fundamental characteristics of religious communities. Based on functional approach proposed by E. Durkheim, M. Halbwachs and D. Hervieu-Léger, the article analyzes the situation of transformation of functions of collective memory and ways of referring to it in the context of spatial dynamics. The author’s main contribution consists in determination of transformation stages of the cultural space (culture of canon, culture of trauma, culture of dialogue), which allows indicating the prerequisites for secularization of memorial practices, as well as possibility for their studying in the context of post-secular trends. The conclusion is formulated that in modern culture, the religious community is established on the principles of individualization, homogenization and migration, which implies the refusal of presumption of continuity of collective memory, and transition towards its interpretation as a configurable element of the identity of religious community. The emerging gap between the need in religious beliefs and affiliation to the tradition creates a social request for the formation of local religious communities.