russian m olokans la

8/12/2019 Russian M Olokans LA

1/11

The Russian Molokan Community in Los AngelesAuthor(s): Pauline V. YoungSource: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Nov., 1929), pp. 393-402Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2765748.

Accessed: 16/07/2014 13:58

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The University of Chicago Pressis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

American Journal of Sociology.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 132.64.217.93 on Wed, 16 Jul 2014 13:58:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpresshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2765748?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2765748?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress


2/11


3/11

394 THE AMERICAN OURNAL F SOCIOLOGYtheSectofHoly Jumpers. heirmore ommon ame, heMolo-kans,or the Milk-drinkers, as given o them n contemptytheRussian Orthodox lergy ecause thegroup fterdissensiondid not abstainfrom heuse of milkand dairyproducts uringLent.Timedoesnotpermit s to review hecomplexitiesftheRus-sianschism.1 ufficet tosay that t was the eed-bed n whichMo-lokanism rew nd throve;thereweregenerated heinteractingforces hich avedeterminedhereligious,ocial, ndmoral abitsandphilosophy f thegroup. t is generallygreedby competentstudents fthemovement2hat of all thenumerous ects whichmadetheir ppearance t that ime, heMolokans nd their winsect, he Dukhobors, rethemostrational ntheir rinciples,hemost onscientiousntheir eligious ractice,hemost ompletelyunifiedroup-a groupwhose trengthfpersonalitynd will odiffer reunsurpassedvenby theQuakers.However, hey ackscholarship nd have no historical nsight.They are prejudicedagainst worldly isdom ; s a result ftheir barren isputationsandprimitive ethods fcontroversyheyhavecreated or hem-selves sort fcrude cholasticism. 3The Russian church nd statetook an extremelyostile tti-tudeto theentirechismaticmovementhich airlyonvulsedheempire t the beginningfthe modernra. The Molokans, longwithother ects,endured ountless ersecutions: xile intothewildsof Transcaucasia, mprisonment,anishmento Siberianmines, onfiscationfproperty. eligiousmartyrdoms thebasisofa powerfulraditionnthisgroup. ndeed, o large partdoestheir ersecutionlay ntheir ttitudeshat hey till eem o sufferfrom persecutionomplex. Theyhavecompensatedor heirinferiorocialpositionhroughtrongommunalnity, yreligiouszeal,andbymany fthose ersonalnd socialvirtues hichre theessential lementsfa well-regulatedocial order.Theysoonbe-

1See F. C. Conybeare,Russian Dissenters; also Leroy Beaulieu, The Empire ofThe Tzars and the Russians (especially Vol. III), and A. Shchapov, The RussianRaskol (Russian).'Such as Haxhausen, Kostomarov,Leroy Beaulieu,and others.'Leroy Beaulieu, op. cit.,p. 345.

This content downloaded from 132.64.217.93 on Wed, 16 Jul 2014 13:58:46 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


4/11


5/11

396 THE AMERICAN OURNALF SOCIOLOGYhas its source ndsanctionntheverynature f men. They havethus stablished kindof theocratic emocracyn which hey ec-ognizeno ministers,rbishops;all are equal by divinedispensa-tion. Basing heir eachingslmost iterally n the cripturesveryaspect f ife san object freligiousttention; ence heir hiefn-stitutionsre religious. ndeedtheir nlyformal ocial organiza-tions re thefamily nd the church.Communal fficiencyn theminds ftheMolokans oesnotdepend nnumberforganizationsbutoncontrolhroughustom.Customhas long mperiouslyegulatedhe social life of theMolokans.From hemethod fcuttingheir airand thekindoffood hey at to themannerfmarryingheirhildrenndburyingtheir eadtheMolokanshavepersistentlyollowedhefootstepsftheir orefathers.he livesoftheolderMolokans re so stronglysystematizedhat the individual's rinciplesnd conduct arelyneed o be consciouslyrforciblyegulatedor im. Personal ab-its are prescribednd sanctioned y his religious ode. Controlthroughhefolkwaysndmores xtends o all details fhis simpledaily ife.The olderMolokans renot tirredythe desirefor ersonalachievementrbythehopeofthe ttainmentf ndividualuccess.Theydonot trive or ocialpositionr for conomicdvancement,which n an immigrantroupmaybecome lmost n obsession.Their ocialhierarchys basedonage,personalmerit, eligious c-tivity. heyhavenever evelopedocialclasses, rcastes.The groupwell llustrates owpotent social force eligion e-comes mong hemasses ntherural nvironmentsnce thas beenthoroughlyemocratizednd ts dherentso onger elegateheirreligiono church unctionaries,uthold hemselvesersonallyc-countable or heperformanceftheir eligiousuties.In a group o intimately oundtogethert is inevitable hateachmemberhould articipatenthe eligiousctivitiesndthink-ingofthegroup.Few peasantcommunitiesake as much imenrehearsingheir istorynd traditions theMolokans.Their uasi-spontaneous eligious itual s rich nfeelingnd fullof theemo-tional one f he outhernlav. Upliftedya sense fthepresenceof heHolyGhost hey all nto cstaticrancesnwhich jumping




6/11

RUSSIAN MOLOKAN COMMUNITY IN LOS ANGELES 397and speakingwith ongues re the characteristic odesofbe-havior.The exchange fthe brotherlyiss addseffectivenessotheir eremoniesnd binds hemogethernto strong'we-group.TheMolokanshave attained onsiderableuccess n theirys-tem f elf-governmentnd mutual id. Their uccessmaybepart-ly ascribed o theefficiencynd native ntelligenceftheir lders.The group s accustomed ofollowts eaders ndrespondo theircall with he ensitivitynd naYvetefthepeasant ectarian.How-ever, eaderships notarbitraryn theMolokangroup. t arisesnaturally nthebasis ofunity fsentimentnd socialhabit. Theleaders realso presbytersnd act as social reformerserpetuallyactive nthe naugurationf heavenlyity n earth.ThequalificationsoreadershipmongMolokans re relative-ly simple: age, experience, ractical fficiency,eligious nspira-tion, irtue-these re theparamountalues.TheMolokan eaderis thecommunityersonified. e inhimself umsup the virtuesand aspirationsfthegroup.Mostelders an bereadily ecognizedina crowd.Theyhaveanuprightnessfbearing, sharp, enetrat-ing ook, n efficiencynddirectnessfactionwhich ommand t-tentionndrespect.It is difficulto explain uchconcepts s organization, rcommunity, o theMolokans s they ssociate hese ermswithformnalovernment,herule ofwhich heyhavetraditionallye-jectedfor heir wngroup.Theydefinehevarious ocial ituationswhich risein thecolonybydiscussion, y popularopinion ndgroup entiment. he social opinionof the group s expressedthroughossip, y personal riticismftheyoungery the older,by appealtotradition.t is formulateduringheir ocial andre-ligiousgatherings,estivals nd conferencesnd other ountlessspontaneousmeetingsharacteristicfpeasant ife. We have nota singlenewspapernanyof ourcommunities,ndwe don'tneedany. Newstravels aster yword f mouth.And the livingword'carries eeper han heprinted ord.TheMolokanshavenowbeen nLosAngeles or early wenty-fiveyears nd thefirsthapternthehistoryftheir rbanizationcanbewritten. ora long ime hegroup ailed o realize hatbytheir nwittinghoice hey adcome o thevery ntipodes ftheir




7/11

398 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYformerife. Village ife n Russia had beenpersonal ndintimate,characterizedyeconomic elf-sufficiencyndprimary roup r-ganization nd control. n America heyfaced social-economicorganizationharacterizedy impersonal,nonymous,econdaryrelationships ith n endless ariety f strange ctivities,ustoms,andbeliefs. ndustry,chool ttendance,ealestate gents, leversalesmen, ublic fficials,ocialreformers,lowlyndsubtly ene-trated he colony, uredtheir hildrenntothe outerworld ndgradually rokedown he ocial solation nd cultural ntegrityfthegroup.The Spiritual hristiansoon found hemselvesn thethickof Americanmaterialism. hey broughtwiththemtoAmerica set of social attitudes, alues, nd psycho-socialraitswhich retheresult f ong-cherishedentiment,fhabitualwaysofactionwhich annot e discarded eadily twillevenunder hemost rgent ircumstancesf ife.Thewhole rocess f djustmentofan immigrantroup oAmericanife nvolves otonly n intel-lectualunderstandingf our ways of acting nd thinking ut itmostfrequentlynvolves n uprootingf old habits,deep-seatedemotions,ndlasting entiments. stabilized roup f oldermenand women re incapable fsuch a psychologicalransformation,andnecessarilyemainliens.Their hildren ue to the amepsy-chologicalimitationsannot stablish abitsofacting, hinking,and feeling hichwould oincidewith hose f their lders. Eachgenerationasa peculiar etof ocialexperienceshich eterminesits conduct abits.Conflict fculturess a result fsuchpolarityofsocialexperience.

Theyounger enerationfMolokansdisplay hegeneral cul-tural emperament 5f their lders, reatlymodified,owever, ynumerous ailycontactswithAmerican ity ife. School,recrea-tion, ndustry,xert heir nfluencet an early age. Life underthese onditions radually hangesncontent nd philosophy,ndtheMolokanyouth oonbecomes he ypical ultural ybrid har-acteristic fmany mmigrantroups; hat s,he is not fully ncor-porated,intoither fthe ultures hich erepresents.The Molokan lders, owever,ueto an ardent esire o main-5 For an elaborationof thisconcept see Robert E. Park, Education in Its Re-lationto the Conflict nd Fusion of Cultures, ublicationsof American ociologicalSociety,Vol. XVII, i9i8.




8/11

RUSSIAN MOLOKAN COMMUNITY IN LOS ANGELES 399taintheir raditionalife ndscheme f socialcontrol,avedevel-opedno mechanismsor ealing ffectivelyith ultural ybridism.In an urban nvironmentystematizationf ife nd traditionale-havior recumbersomend highlyneffective.tillthat s all theoldergenerationnderstandndhence hey re forced o a policyofpassiveresistancendaloofnessntheface f he nvasion fthestrange ulture.Stronglyominated y religious aith heyhavenotdevelopedmechanismsfcoercion nd persuasion f heyoung.Theyhave appealed otheyoung o maintain heir glorious ast.The young eoplehavenotrespondedo the ppeal totraditionndreligious rinciples. hese ideals are now too abstract or hesecity-bredhildren. ulture sacquired hroughontactndpartici-pation, nd vicarious xperienceoes notreadily nd fully rans-mitattitudes nd values or social reality.The youngboysandgirls mong heMolokanshaveoften xpressed reat uriositys totheir istory, ut thegroup raditionsre fastbecomingmere olklore othem.The talesofmartyrdomnd persecutioneenmo themeventoogruesomeorepeat. Theyare affectedytheemotionaltoneoftheritual ut aregreatlymbarrassedytheceremonyfthe brotherlyiss. Theyare imbuedwith he, resence f theHoly Ghostbut they uit going o church s soon as the HolyGhostmakesthemump. Theyconsiderthumiliatingo jumpandcannot econcile hisbehaviorwithAmerican racticesnd at-titudes.Livingnsocial solation heolder enerationavenever evel-opeda system f criticismr reflectionpon establishedustom.Theyoung eople, owever,eflecteriously pon heir ehaviornthe ight fthereactionsftheirAmerican eighborsowhose tti-tudes hey resensitive.

You see, my parents ead theBible to me and tell me I mustdo as it'swritten.God gave you a mind,whydon'tyouuse it? Whydon'tyou figureout theBible foryourself?My mother ays: Keep still,child,you are ig-norant, ou mustdo as your forefathersidbeforeyou. Sure, t's all right,ifyou'regoingback to themold times. But I ain't going o-in this country[a youngMolokanman].Thefactors hich ssured hefamily nity ftheolder enera-tion re no onger-operativepon heyoung eople. Theyhave de-




9/11

400 THE AMERICAN OURNAL F SOCIOLOGYveloped raits fpersonal nitiativend ingenuity;heyhave ac-quirednew kills nd aptitudes nd feel heneed ofmaking heirownway ntheworld.Theirelders re no longer heonlypeoplewho exert nfluenceponthem.Life is now nfinitelyore om-plex. They re responsiveo a variety f nstitutionsnd form ewand well-defineddeas of their uties ndresponsibilities. ot in-frequentlyheyoung eople re torn etween wodivergenttand-ards. Hence, theybecome onfused. n theconflictetween henew and the old way of thinkingnd acting heyfindittlehelpeither t home r ntheoutsideworld inceboth hehome nd thelarger ommunityrescribe heir wn code and are indifferentrhostile o that ftheother.Frequently new nddifferentode fbehavior merges,ubject o neither heold northenew ystem fcontrol. omeof theyoung eoplenevermakeadjustmentsatis-factoryoeither roup; hey ecome emoralized,estless,mobile,delinquent. ndas the geformarriagencreases, s economicn-dependence ecomesharder o secure, nd the nsistence n pro-longed chooltrainings more trictly nforced,ffensesecomemorefrequentnd more erious n character-their tabilizationbecomesmore ncertain.The failure f theMolokans oparticipatenthe ife nd nsti-tutions fthe arger ommunityas resultedn ndifferencenthepartof thecitygovernmentith heresult hat he ection fthecity ccupied ythe olonysvery oorly erviced,ndmany ignsof communal eteriorationre nevidence.Healthproblems,ous-ing conditions, olicingproblems re becomingmore and moreacute nthatdistrict. ootleggingasa strong old nthe ommu-nity.Factories, arehouses,ailroad ards reedgingncloser ndcloser onvertinghisresidentialection nto semi-industrialis-trict.Cheapamusement ouses reencroachingponthepuritan-ically piritedMolokan nhabitants. mixturefraces-Negroes,Mexicans,Armenians-with varietyf dialects ndstandards fliving urroundhe Molokancolony n all sides. Still, he olderMolokanshaveheretoforeried o maintain heirpiritual rother-hoodmuch s iftheywere nruralRussian solation,losing heireyes, s itwere, oeverythingurroundinghem.Yetthishasproved mpossible,or he spiritualrotherhood,




10/11

RUSSIAN MOLOKAN COMMUNITY IN LOS ANGELES 40Ifirm n its standagainstRussianbureaucracy,s unable towith-stand he nfluencefthe ity lum.Theyhave comemore ecentlytorecognize heproblemsftheir istrict;hey uiteproperlye-gard t as an infectedrea. The behaviorf their hildrennthefascinatingutbewilderingity treetsorely erplexeshem.Theydiscuss he degradationf their ouls andtheir hameful,aganconduct. When the eldersget togetherheseproblemsead tomuch erious hinkingnd discussion.Little ofpractical onse-quenceresults ince hey ave noexperiencertechniqueor eal-ing with uchproblems.Whenthe situation ecomes xtremelyaggravatinghey etitionhe chool uthorities,hepolice ommis-sion, heanti-saloonrganizations. ut their etitions ave littleeffectince hey omefrom group f liens, on-voters,justRus-sians.Under uchcircumstancesheyoungpeoplehave discoveredthat t is possible o cross he ine fromMolokanto Americanifewith omparativease. Already number ave alienated hem-selves from heirnative ulture nd become American. A fewhaveeven ntermarried;thers ope o do so.There s a groupofyoungpeople,however,whoare still nlargemeasure ubjected othe force fMolokancommunalnflu-ence.They have notyet cquired ufficientntellectualower ndeconomicndependenceo emancipatehemselvesompletelyndbreak wayfromhe ustoms hich heir arents old acred.Theyoung eople nmalltages ndperiods f ifegenerallyhowntensedevotion ohome ies. The familial ondsofaffectionndsolidar-ity restillgenerallytrongnough obridge hecultural ap be-tweenhe wogenerations. nd his oyalty fthe hild othefam-ilywinstheparents' dmirationnd approval. Andas economicindependencef theyounger eoplegrows heparents ivethemgreaterndgreater reedomndreluctantlyonfessdmirationftheiruccess nAmericanife.Theparentshusmakemany djust-ments o thedemands ftheir hildren nd unwittinglyegin oshare nthemore onventionalmericanife. The process f ad-justment oAmericanifenecessarilyesultsnvarying egrees faccommodationnd assimilation. ut every tage nvolves newmodeofconduct, newphilosophyf ife. t is this ndividualized




11/11

402 THE AMERICAN OURNALF SOCIOLOGYbehaviorwhichdisintegratesraditionalMolokan organization.The older roupn Russia was effectivelyrganized o carry n thereligioustruggle.ts very fficacyn maintainingtself gainst tsRussian enemiesmakes it incapable of dealingwiththe forceswhich isintegrateheir ocialorganizationnAmerica.Theyarebeginningo realizenow hey rehelpless nd ncapable fassum-ing eadership ver heyounger eople. The only scape they ansuggests flightrom hecity.Butthis solution oesnot ppealto theyoung eople,nor ndeed o any of thegroupswhohave be-comerooted n the conomicife f the ity nd habituatedo t.

The colony t present isplays heoperationfseveraldiver-gent ocialsystems, hich an almost e thought f as constella-tionsof social forces uperimposedponor included newithinanother.Conflicts inevitable etweenhedivergent odes f be-havior.Unanimityfthoughtnd simplicityf ction re breakingdown.The most ominantharacteristicsfprimary roup rgani-zation reunanimityfthoughtndsimplicityndcertaintyfac-tion. Yet with heestablishmentf reflectivehinkingndthede-velopmentfnew kills, ivisionf abor ndofpersonal nitiative,systematizationf behavior, nanimity,nd simplicityre lost.Andsince hesepeasants ackspecific echniques ordealingwithurban roblemsraditionaleadership unctionsneffectively.ndi-vidualized ehavior riseswith hemultiplyingf ocialcodes. Theold structures crumblingndlosingtspotencyndnothingom-parable s takingtsplace. The younger enerationavenotyetcome nto heir wn.

russian m olokans la

Documents