Ethnic and confessional culture of Mordovian students (based on the materials of the internet survey)

Introduction. The article summarizes the results of a study of the ethnic and confessional culture of Mordovian students. The objectives of the study were to identify the degree of preservation of individual components of ethnic culture among Mordovian students; to analyze of the level of their religiosity and affiliation to the local church; to study the degree of influence other cultural systems on their worldview. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study was the Internet survey. The total of 100 Mordovian students took part in the survey: 63 people from the Republic of Mordovia (Mordovian State Pedagogical University) and 37 people from the Ulyanovsk region (Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University). Results and Discussion. The article describes the ideas of Mordovian students about sacred places and national heroes, the proficiency in the national language, the perception of the national language as a native language, the existence of a festive and ritual culture, religiosity and confessional affiliation, religious behavior and religious beliefs, etc. It reveals and interprets the influence of living in the multicultural region on a significant proportion of people who recognize non-Mordovian as their native language, and on the syncretization in the mass consciousness of respondents of holidays of different genesis: international, Russian national, Christian, national public, and Mordovian national holidays. Conclusion. An analysis of the materials of the Internet survey allows to conclude that, in general, Mordovian students are characterized by a positive attitude towards Mordovian culture. The interest of the respondents is especially noticeable when answering questions that refer to ethnic self-consciousness issues that have more symbolic than practical/everyday meaning. Although Mordovian students consider themselves Orthodox Christians, their religious culture is no less diverse, a significant part of which is integrated to varying degrees in the culture of Orthodoxy. At the same time, some Mordovian students are not without occult influence.