13 Introduction: Feast as a Mirror of Social and Cultural Changes that target religious feelings lead to the destruction of the peaceful cohabitation of different ethnic groups. The feast also mirrors changes in the issues that ignite conflict. Next to emotional and religious, economic issues have also emerged as triggers. In the second chapter of this section, Tigran Simyan and Ilze Kačāne present transformations of the New Year celebration in Armenia and Latvia. Celebration of New Year in Armenia and Latvia in the Soviet and then post-Soviet (after 1990) periods shows great influence of geo-political factors in two layers: Soviet inheritance—still quite strong in Armenia; and the re-establishment of national culture infused with Christian and old pagan elements. As a result, the feasting in Latvia has a hybrid character, whereas in Armenia it exhibits similarities with the modern Russian pattern. However, in both countries the celebration of the New Year has a family-social character; it is linked with the Christmas tree, parties, and presents, which was the groundwork of political and ideological feasts and festivals in the Soviet period. The contributors are scholars who represent various international institutions and fields of research, and use different approaches and methodologies to study the subject of the feast. This publication is an opportunity to bring the results of their research together in one book. The volume contains chapters in which various aspects of feasts, festivals, and festivities perceived as a mirror of social and cultural changes in the 20th and 21st centuries are presented. It provides a unique and rich resource in the fields of culture, folklore, religion, anthropology, sociology, as well as politics and other cultural and social sciences. In the future, we hope to broaden the scope of our research and include more ethnic groups and their cultures in order to see the changes they have undergone and factors that caused them. References Bakhtin, Mikhail ([1965] 1984) Rabelais and His World [orig. Tvorchestvo Fransua Rable i narodnaja kulʹtura srednevekovʹja i Renessansa]. Translated from Russian by Hélenè Iswolsky. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Burszta, Józef (1966) “Folklor, folklorystyka, folkloryzacja [= Folklore, Folkloristics, Folklorization].” [In:] Teatr Ludowy 1–2; 39–40. Burszta, Józef (1974) Kultura ludowa – kultura narodowa: szkice i rozprawy [= Folk Culture – National Culture: Sketches and Treatises]. Warszawa, Poland: Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza. Burszta, Józef (1978) “Folkloryzm, tradycja, cywilizacja współczesna [= Folklorism, Tradition, Contemporary Civilization].” [In:] Michał Waliński (ed.) Teoria
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