A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Extended Families as Communities of Religious Experience in Late Seventeenth-Century Eastern Finland (2022)

Kuha, M. (2022). Extended Families as Communities of Religious Experience in Late Seventeenth-Century Eastern Finland. In S. Katajala-Peltomaa, & R. M. Toivo (Eds.), Histories of Experience in the World of Lived Religion (pp. 139-161). Palgrave Macmillan. Palgrave Studies in the History of Experience. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92140-8_6

JYU authors or editors

Kuha, Miia

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kuha, Miia

Parent publication: Histories of Experience in the World of Lived Religion

Parent publication editors: Katajala-Peltomaa, Sari; Toivo, Raisa Maria

ISBN: 978-3-030-92139-2

eISBN: 978-3-030-92140-8

Journal or series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Experience

ISSN: 2524-8960

eISSN: 2524-8979

Publication year: 2022

Pages range: 139-161

Number of pages in the book: 305

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Place of Publication: Cham

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92140-8_6

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/80256

Abstract

This chapter offers an interpretation of extended families as communities of experience in a rural area close to the eastern border of the Swedish realm. Through a case study of lower court records, Kuha examines the social and religious life in a 17th-century farm culminating in the crisis of an extended family. The chapter explores how practices of lived religion shaped the relationship of the community and the individual, and how experiences were negotiated within families and local communities. The analysis highlights the importance of protecting the boundaries of the household as well as the meaning of religious practices in creating cohesion within the community.

Keywords: rural population; local communities; families; religious practice; rituals; folk beliefs; witchcraft; cultural history; social history; Early modern age