Eschatological motives in rumors about miracles (based on the materials of the Ukrainian press 1920-1925)
Introduction. The article is devoted to the consideration and analysis of the spread of rumors about miracles and eschatological topics that circulated in Ukrainian society in 1920-1925. Сontent. The article systematizes various eschatological motives common in Ukraine in the early 1920s during the mass “wave of miracles”. It is shown that unusual phenomena during the period of social and cultural crises could be associated on the territory of Ukraine with the “miracles of the Antichrist”, i.e. typologically refer to the forms of manifestation of the so-called Miraculous World. The Ukrainian “miracle wave” of 1920-1925 developed not only against the background of economic problems as a result of wars and revolution, severe drought and hunger caused by it, but also turned out to be a consequence of the crisis of mass religious consciousness. Archival, comparative and structural-typological methods were used to study the topic under consideration. The property of the communicative universality of rumors is also used, namely their ability to penetrate into various spheres through all available channels (primarily from the conversa-tional environment - into the sphere of mass media). Thus, not only the rumors themselves are con-sidered, but also their movement from one communicative area to another. The definition of narrative is taken from the American philosopher A. Danto. The source of information for the article was the digital archive of Ukrainian periodicals - LIBRARIA, a total of 60 articles about rumors and miracles published in 1920-1925 in almost all central printing bodies of Ukraine were analyzed. Conclusions. Mass rumors about miracles formed an atmosphere of spiritual instability and mystical moods in society. The drivers of the spread of this wave were, among other things, “holy letters”, often containing a story about a miracle in their plot.