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«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «POLITOLOGIYA. RELIGIOVEDENIE»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «POLITICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION STUDIES»
ISSN 2073-3380 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Political Science and Religion Studies». 2024. Vol 50

Bread as a Sacred Body in the History of France and Russia

Author(s)
A. V. Keller, S. A. Azarenko
Abstract
This article studies bread as a social actor that sets a new social ontology. The novelty and relevance of the topic makes it possible to take a new look at the history of bread, which builds its semantic, political, and cultural space around itself. Invisibly but quite tangibly, bread as a social and topological construction is present and directly participates in revolutionary events, taking an active part in the heated confrontation for social significance and power, not only in the form of bread riots, but also during the fateful historical events. In the revolutionary situation of a “perfect storm,” “bread” begins to transform everyday life into a new topology especially vividly. It is traced how being a fundamental concept of the linguistic picture of the world, bread sets the curve of manifested meanings in significant words. The authors demonstrate that bread is an actor included in the life chain of events, in topologems of various configurations. Theoretically, this view is substantiated through the methodology of social topology, which coexists in an interdisciplinary space with history and philosophy. Due to the limited scope of the article, the outlined connotations between French and Russian history show the possibilities of a comparative approach in the search for similar typologies regardless of regional specifics. The aim of the analysis is not so much to find new sources or facts as to reconsider the already existing and well-known historical narrative. Its new interpretation can help reveal the fundamental bases of human existence, which are formed and fall into topologemes beyond the will and desire of a single individual. In the authors’ view, this will serve as a further step towards responding to a real challenge for humanity, the signs of which are that people are losing control over “things” in their belief that they consume things rather than the other way around.
About the Authors

Keller Andrei Viktorovich, Doctor of Sciences (History), Laboratory of Archeographical Studies, Ural Federal University named the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin, 19, Mir st., Ekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation, e-mail: keller26000@gmail.com

Azarenko Sergey Alexandrovich, Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Professor, Department of Social Philosophy, Ural Federal University named the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin, 19, Mir st., Ekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation, e-mail: sergey_azarenko@mail.ru

For citation

Keller A.V., Azarenko S.A. Bread as a Sacred Body in the History of France and Russia. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies, 2024, vol. 50, pp. 125-141. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2024.50.125 (in Russian)

Keywords
«bread» as a social actor, bread as a sacred body, eucharist, baptize bread, social topology, topologeme, bodily practices.
UDC
111.1+94(44)"17/19"+ 94(470)"17/19"+ 81'27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2024.50.125
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