From Folk to Lived: The Formation of Conceptual Frameworks for the Study of Private Forms of Religion

The article provides an overview of theoretical approaches to comprehending private forms of religion. Private forms of religion are understood as beliefs and practices that go beyond exclusively institutional structures and doctrines. The relevance of the topic is connected with the existing demand for identifying trends in the development of the religious situation based on data on practices that take place in the everyday life of believers. The study aims to trace the peculiarities of the conceptualization of the notion of ‘private religion’ as a broad framework for describing religious reality. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: 1) To identify, based on systematization of the existing research literature,  the key optics of studying private forms of religion; 2) to compare the specifics of definitions of religious reality in each of these optics; 3) to establish the key elements of the broadest approach to religious reality in the light of the theory of ‘lived religion’; 4) to trace the genetic connection of the theories of the framework of ‘lived religion’ with previous forms of theorizing, and to describe the evolution of these concepts in terms of religious epistemology. The materials of the study were publications devoted to private forms of religion considered within the concepts of lived religion, vernacular religion, and related concepts, as well as their predecessors - popular religion and folk religion, which caused the emergence of modern models.The methods of theoretical analysis and SWOT analysis were used to assess the internal logic of the concepts under consideration as well as the method of historical analysis, which allowed for the tracing of the evolution of approaches and establishment of their origins. In addition the method of comparative analysis was used to compare the existing strategies for researching private forms of religion.  As a result, the conceptual contours of the study of private forms of religion were revealed, taking into account the peculiarities of previous theories. The article makes 4 main conclusions: 1. The systematization of the research literature has revealed two groups of studies: ‘traditional’ studies of ‘folk religion’ and publications from the late 20th century that attempt to revise these traditional optics. The first group is represented by sources that emphasize ‘folk’ beliefs and practices. The second group includes modern theories of “lived”, “vernacular”, “material” and other conceptualizations of private forms of religion, which developed as a reflection on the limitations of existing models.  2. Each of the optics focusing on private forms of religion emphasizes the irreducibility of description to observable phenomena; in this case ‘vernacular religion’ fixes first of all the presence of the irrational element of the course of religious life; ‘material religion’ establishes the significance of objectification of religious life; ‘lived religion’, in our opinion, is the broadest notion revealing the variety of possible theoretical approaches to private forms of religion. 3. The key elements of modern concepts of private forms of religion are: the idea of their dynamic nature; the emphasis on everyday practices and their context; the orientation on empirical analysis and the application of qualitative research methods; the priority of research on material culture, personal experience of believers, and sensory aspects of worship. 4. Within the framework of addressing the theoretical origins of modern approaches, the main methodological difficulties are identified (primarily related to the hierarchical and evaluative specificity of traditional theories). The problem of neutral terminology is revealed, related to the inevitability of discursive associations and dichotomous oppositions, which, despite criticism, continue to be reproduced in research. It is revealed that comprehensive analyses of institutional and private practices from the perspective of systemically conducted falsificationism remain relatively rare, which indicates the prospect of further research in this area.

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