Historia provinciae: журнал региональной истории (Sep 2024)
THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.8 No.3 P.O. Kirillov: A Devotee of Studying Regional Historical and Cultural Heritage
Abstract
The article covers the life and historical and cultural heritage of Pyotr Osipovich Kirillov (1853–1917), one of the pre-revolutionary Kuban teachers who devoted themselves to the study of the region’s local history. The historian’s works about the heritage of the stanitsas of Novominskaya, Staroderevyankovskaya, and Ryazanskaya, his essay about the Black Sea wedding traditions as well as folklore materials and archival documents published by him represent the initial stage of studying the historical past and spiritual wealth of the Kuban region. This initial stage is connected to the accumulation of factual material and reflects approaches to the folk culture of the mid- and second half of the 19th century. Scientific significance of these works is not particularly great. However, they awakened interest in the “living old times” and the rich historical experience of the region, laying a certain foundation and forming continuity in the study of the Kuban history. Kirillov’s publications were somewhat amateur, episodic, descriptive, and biased, and followed the existing prejudice typical of the European enlightened view of “ignorance” and “superstition.” This somewhat arrogant attitude to the world of folk culture did not allow the local historian to fully appreciate the richness and worldview meaning of the spiritual heritage of the Kuban population. His works reflect the level of folklore and ethnographic local history of the late 19th century, when the “living old times” were often not conceptualized as an integral system connected to the culture of life support and values of the people’s existence. However, Kirillov’s mistakes, prejudices, and sincere misconceptions do not diminish his significant contribution to the preservation of texts of the “living old times” for future generations. What the local historian had collected gave the next generations of researchers an opportunity to study unique texts, conduct comparative analysis, and trace the dynamics of the development of traditional culture of the Kuban Cossacks. Kirillov’s publications reveal the peculiarities of folk religiosity, beliefs, rituals, ethnogenetic legends and songs of stanitsa residents, give an idea of what is typically local and specific in the Kuban tradition, and help modern specialists in their present work. The author of the article also emphasizes the relevance of Kirillov’s pedagogical experience. Realizing his own vocation as a teacher, Kirillov together with his students studied the life and traditions of the local population and attracted the attention of society to the uniqueness and originality of his native land.
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