SACRED LANDSCAPES IN THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF RURAL RESIDENTS OF THE LENINGRAD REGION
The paper introduces the results of sociocultural studies conducted in rural areas of the Leningrad region (2015-1018). The purpose of the field study was to explore the attitudes of collective consciousness of respondents in respect of the revered landscape objects of their small homeland. This implied detecting perceptions of rural residents of Volosovsky, Kingisepp, Gatchina, Luga districts of the Leningrad region, focused on the maintenance of historical memory. Therefore, as an object of research, we chose the views (meanings) that our respondents associated with the revered landscape objects (cult stones, sacred groves, trees, springs, etc.). These very objects are the markers of sacred landscape of the territories. The research has resulted in dividing all of our respondents (N=179), with whom we have worked with a method of narrative interviews into three groups: of “Connoisseurs”, i.e. people who are able to answer our questions, “Improvisers” - people who gave visionary fantasy and vague answers and “Profanes” - who proved unable to give answers to our questions. The majority of respondents, both men and women were in the group of “Profanes” (59%), the number of “Improvisers” - 29%, and “Experts” - 12%. The prevalence of people who were not interested in the history of their small homeland in our society is alarming. The fading of this interest shows: the failure of symbolic policy of the state, the urgent need to create positive attitudes to the sacred landscapes of the North-West of Russia as a whole, as a source of spiritual, ethno-cultural, socio-cultural identification of the population. That said the study revealed prospects for the use of this spiritual and historical resource in scientific, educational and educational-pragmatic (cognitive, pilgrimage tourism) purposes.