Title of the article:

“DYATLOV PASS”: STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS AND SEMIOTICS OF MYTHOSPHERE

Author(s):

Vladimir Yu. Lebedev

Alexander M. Prilutskii

Information about the author/authors

Vladimir Yu. Lebedev — PhD in Philosophy, docent, Professor, Professor Department of theology, Institute of pedagogical education and social technologies, Tver State University, Zhelyabova St., 33, 170100 Tver, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4840-3135. E-mail: semion.religare@yandex.ru

Alexander M. Prilutskii — PhD in Philosophy, Professor, Professor Department of sociology and religious studies, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Kazanskaya St., 6, 191186 St. Petersburg, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7013-9935. E-mail: alpril@mail.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2021

Volume

Vol. 60

Pages

pp. 97–113

Received

March 23, 2020

Date of publication

June 28, 2021

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2021-60-97-113

Index UDK

008

Index BBK

71.05

Abstract

The study is the first to analyze mythology associated with the death of the tourist group of Igor Dyatlov in February 1959. The event caused considerable public excitement which contributed to the emerging of a specific “Dyatlov's mythology”. The authors do not pay special attention to the circumstances of the death of Dyatlov's group, since the focus is on the study of semiotics, dynamics and structuring of Dyatlov`s mythological discourse. The authors analyze the influence of conspiratorial and nostalgic myth on the shaping of modern Dyatlov's mythology. An analysis of its specificity allows concluding that Dyatlov's mythology is transforming into a para-religious phenomenon similar to the civil religion. At the same time, Dyatlov's artifacts serve as relics, excursions to Dyatlov pass become similar to pilgrimages, and various mystical versions of events are gaining popularity among researchers. The community investigating the death of this group is strictly structured. It includes leaders — keepers of the information, “initiated ones”, “large audience of concerned” at the bottom of the pyramid, and 'heretics' outside the structure. The study is performed in line with semiotic and hermeneutic approaches using the apparatus of the theory of semiotic drift.

Keywords

Igor Dyatlov, tourism, Northern Urals, mythology, conspirological myth, nostalgic myth, civil religion.

References

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