Paper Icons and Fasting Bodies: The Esthetic Formations of Serbian Orthodoxy

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic data from central Serbia, the article uses the concept of “esthetic formations” to consider how divergent expressions of Orthodox Christianity intersect in postsocialist space. The majority of Serbs identify as “Orthodox” and Orthodox imagery pervades the public sphere—but only a minority engage concertedly with liturgical practice. Through their regular fasting and churchgoing such self-identifying “believers” embody an Orthodox esthetic which is at once connected to—and yet distinct from—the overarching Orthodox cultural context. Whilst for churchgoers such embodiment represents sincerity and commitment, for many others it represents fanaticism and excessive piety. Overall, the article makes two claims. First, that “esthetic formations” are not internally rigid and that esthetics can divide as much as they unite. Second, that embodied esthetics allow different actors to articulate different moral claims about what constitutes sincere Orthodox practice.