Shvaya A.Yu. (2026). “The Russian Golgotha” Myth: Between the Tragedy of Political Repressions and the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Russian Sociological Review, 25(1), 145-176.

Òåêñò ñòàòüè íà ñàéòå æóðíàëà URL: https://sociologica.hse.ru/article/view/33399 (äàòà îáðàùåíèÿ 22.04.2026)

Abstract

The article examines the transformation of the “Russian Golgotha” from a metaphor into a religious political myth and its role in institutionalizing the Russian Orthodox Church as a central mnemonic actor. Through the lens of cultural sociology, the study traces this evolution from 1918 through the so-called “Great Terror”, highlighting how the late Soviet infusion of soteriological meaning into Russian emigration narratives sacralized the trauma of repression. This myth first unified the Orthodox community and later shaped broader commemorative practices. Its institutionalization occurred within a commemorative field formed at the intersection of religious and political institutional orders. The church secured symbolic dominance in this field through two key processes: 1) active interpretive work to highlight the role of Orthodoxy as the foundational pillar of Russian statehood, and 2) pragmatic myth-making that established “sites of memory” dedicated to the victims of the “Great Terror”. Thus, tracing the evolution of the “Russian Golgotha” mythic narrative reveals the contours of contemporary Russia’s memory politics and clarifies the Church’s institutional role within it.