Chapter 10. Transformations of New Year Celebration in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Era: the Cases of Armenia and Latvia Tigran Simyan and Ilze Kačāne ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to compare and analyze the most remarkable transformations of New Year celebrations in Armenia and Latvia—countries with a shared collective memory and inherited Soviet identity. The research focuses on two culture-historical periods: (1) the Soviet period when the countries were seen as peripheries opposed to the center (Moscow), and (2) the post-Soviet period when after the collapse of authoritarianism and restoration of independence in the 1990s, the re-established national cultural values emerged to co-exist with effectively ingrained former Soviet celebration traditions. The results obtained in the research confirm that New Year celebration traditions in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras were crucially influenced by the political change promoting transformations in the nations’ festive traditions and in provoking the emergence of a hybrid national identity. The research was carried out by applying the cultural-historical approach, frame analysis, content analysis, and comparative analysis. KEYWORDS: Christmas (New Year) tree, Ded Moroz, New Year, post-Soviet, Santa Claus, Soviet, transformation Introduction The culture of every nation is not spontaneously generated by members of its society only. The process of culture management is consciously shaped by the representatives of state power, especially by the political elite. Colonial domination, new political ideology, totalitarian regimes, and one-party systems radically change all spheres of a nation’s former society, including its culture, traditions, and rituals. As one of the most stable “universal” holidays of every culture, New Year and the established traditions of celebrating it underwent crucial
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