Urban Anniversary Culture in Katerynoslav, Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

The article analyzes the culture of anniversaries and jubilees in Katerynoslav around the turn of the 20th century. Anniversary culture is defined by the author as a set of forms and norms for celebration of anniversaries and jubilees, used by society to develop a symbolic, ordered image of the past within the framework of a particular ideological discourse. The main criteria for the selection of events for analysis were their public appeal and engagement with the collective memory of the urban community. The case studies include one municipal anniversary (100th anniversary of the founding of Katerynoslav), two personal (100th anniversary of the death of A. Pushkin and 100th anniversary of the death of T. Shevchenko), and two historical (100th anniversary of the ‘Patriotic War of 1812’ and 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov). The study locates the anniversary at the intersection of the culture of urban leisure (anniversary as celebration) and historical culture (anniversary as commemoration). The author sets out to identify the public actors behind the organization of anniversary events; the composition and reaction of the audience; and the typical and unique in the program of celebrations. The purpose of the study is to trace, based on the analysis of the chosen varieties of the public anniversary, the changes in the latter’s function and role in the urban space of Katerynoslav. The study shows that, regardless of the type, the public anniversary was a powerful factor of horizontal (committees, societies) and vertical (spectators, participants) group interaction in a city with a dynamic ethno-confessional composition of the population. Furthermore, anniversaries served as catalysts for addressing the community’s needs and enacting its values. In the urban space of late 19th-century Katerynoslav, the anniversary scenario was designed to perform, along with a commemorative function, the function of cultural and moral enlightenment. That is why celebrations were accompanied by the opening of libraries, schools, literary societies, and shelters for the poor. In the early years of the 20th century, on the other hand, the anniversary became a tool of cultural nationalism, expected to stimulate the feelings of patriotism and loyalty to national values. Universal for anniversary culture during the entire period under study was a desire to expand the space of celebration, regardless of social and religious boundaries. One consequence of this aspiration was an increased demand for popular historical knowledge among the urban residents and educated public.