Ancient Wisdom, Stigmatised Knowledge, and Sacred Landscapes: Ontologies and Epistemologies of New Age Culture in Post-Soviet Russia

Preface to the Special Issue Anthropology of New Age Culture in Post-Soviet Russia

‘Ecosystems’ and ‘Mind Viruses’ in Folklore Research: Does Folkloristics Need Memetics?

The paper deals with applicability of the ‘memetic approach’ and ‘epidemiology of culture’ in present day folklore research. These theoretical models could be supplemented by certain ideas and hypotheses borrowed from actor-network theory and the cognitive science of religion. The development of contemporary folkloristic theorising could proceed from a new experimental ethnography that would combine memory and narrative studies, cognitive research and the theory of memes with more common or habitual methods of folklore research and cultural anthropology