MUTATIONS AND CEREMONIAL TRANSFIGURATION IN TIMES OF CRISIS
Tatiana POTÎNG Universitatea de Stat din Moldova
Abstract
The state of emergency established at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic imposed, beyond the restrictions provided for in the regulatory acts, a new perspective on human existence, including the dismantling of some tradi- tions and stereotypes. In the conditions where the restrictive measures issued by the authorities only concerned the activity of public in- stitutions and state-regulated economic sectors, traditional community customs remained outside the epidemiological regulatory acts and ended up in the ungrateful niche of uncertainty and interpretations. Consequently, family rituals were put on hold and underwent a series of transformations once the number of people allowed together in one place was limited, and the obligation to observe distance and wear protective masks was imposed. Ultimately, this scientific endeavor aims to analyze the impact of the pandemic crisis on the funeral ceremony in all its complexity and to investigate the degree of resistance of the ceremonial tradition to the new realities and norms imposed by the pandemic.
Keywords: community customs, family ritual, tradition, ceremony, taboo.
