Kuuluvuspaigad: ajaloo taasloomine

Folklorists have long been aware that place names hold the memory of historically significant people and events. The landscape laden with inherited meanings is marked by names and objects and recreated constantly by narration functions as the map of historical memory in a detailed way for a culture extracting its livelihood from nature. Sacrificial places are not only remembered, but are - at least in Shuryshkar - in active use. They are the meeting points for the human and non-human world. The multiplicity of such mental maps reflects the many-sidedness of human experience. The social world does not only consist of human beings but also of the unseen sphere of the spirits. Udmurt villages retained their ethnic religion with rituals and cult grounds between two world religions Islam and Christianity until the 21st century. The Udmurt traditions and ways of life have been formed by various cultural influences throughout centuries. Despite all the pressures, the villages worshipping Inmar have preserved features of the ancient Finno-Ugric tradition. The so-called "nature religion" of the Udmurts is practised by kin-based cult groups and relies on oral tradition. During seasonal rituals god of the heavens, ancestors, and guardian spirits of fields, earth and forest are addressed in ritual places dedicated to each of these. Formerly, the holy groves of the Udmurts were hidden in forests, and often on a hill. In addition to their religious significance the sacred places, graveyards and holy groves are essential parts of village landscape and sign vehicles of its collective memory. The holy groves are known by all members of the community but are kept secret from outsiders if needed. They are part of the landscape and remain invisible for outsiders. Known only by the insiders, the groves create a border between those who move in the landscape, establish the divide between them and us, and are thus major markers of communal identity. At some places the holy groves are no longer in use; respect and fear of consequences, however, has prevented the places from being destroyed. Abandoned groves have overgrown and transformed into places of landscape occupied by extraordinary beings. Despite the overgrowth, the places still function as sign vehicles of collective memory. They represent the past of the group, tradition that in the present day does not necessarily have the same meaning as before, but nevertheless provides materials for experiencing the continuity of group culture. The importance of the sacred sites is based on their ability to connect a group not only to the supranormal world but also to a world gone by, to the world of ancestors and their life, thus opening up a view to collective past. Rituals not only unite social groups, but also recreate and establish them in practiced ceremonies. It is no wonder that the interest in the sacred sites and their reconstruction is an essential part of the ethnic revival in Russia and elsewhere. The sense of continuity and ethnic history motivates the maintenance and rebuilding of holy groves in several villages in southern Udmurtia. It is interesting to note that people with academic education who have already left the village and have thus distanced themselves from village life are actively involved in reconstructing the groves. The Udmurts have also revived and created new ritual forms that are better adapted to modern life-style

The Siberian Shaman’s technique of ecstasy

Changes in the field of observation and body image, attenuated grasp of reality and self-control, which may lead to identification with authority in the case of the shaman with supranormal powers, are all identifying features of shamanic ecstasy. It also appears that some of the basic elements of the shamanic tradition can be explained on the basis of typical marks of identification of altered states of consciousness. A sense of depersonalization and transcendence may in itself act as an impetus to cosmic journey fantasies. Without doubt, such feelings are at the very heart of the tradition containing the schism between mind and body. Thus, by placing the shamanic technique of ecstasy beside parallel modes of behaviour, possibly of different cultural background, we discover the guide lines for analysing its basic psychophysical properties. When studying a phenomenon such as shamanism, where the method of inducing trance is marked by the occurrence of certain common features and whose culturally-bound meaning and social function are, broadly speaking, uniform, we may assume that despite individual variation the basic mechanism of the technique of ecstasy may be delineated. What, then, is the ideal process of the shamanic trance technique? What factors exert particular pressure on the behaviour of the shaman? Shamanic practice differ from other means of attaining ecstasy with its emphasis on the ritual role-taking technique aimed at the supranormal counter-roles, the "spirit-helpers". The shaman's generalized reality orientation is cut off by means of suitable ritual requisites, the extinguishing of the lights and the noise of intensified drumming. Its place is taken by special orientation, a world created by the shamanic tradition, fantasies of supranormal beings and their dwelling places. The shaman actualises one spirit role after another according to a set pattern

Body, performance, and agency in Kalevala rune-singing

This article deals with the differences in the habitus of rune-singers from the point of view of performance. The performance strategies of rune-singing are examined by paying attention to its bodily expressions and the way in which such movements relate to the performers' aims for self-expression and social recognition.Not

Singing of incantations in Nordic tradition

Spoken recitation became established as the mode of delivering the Finnish incantation. The ordinary incantations connected with everyday life in agrarian society were recited with little ceremony, in a mumble, a whisper. Finnish researchers of folk belief have described the incantation as a genre characterised by spoken delivery and a verbatim adherence to a traditional scheme. The European incantations noted down in the past few centuries are indeed formulae with a seemingly mechanical effect. The performer aims not at personal contact with the other world or an opponent, but believes rather that he will achieve his goal through his command of secret knowledge and magic techniques. Anyone is capable of reciting an incantation, and the mode of delivery is of no vital significance. This description, however, only partially corresponds to the essence of the Finnish incantation tradition. The incantations of Eastern Finland differ from those of the western tradition in their breadth and wordiness. They have also been characterised by a wealth of variation. These characteristics are reinforced by the tietäjä institution which persisted late in the area. From what we know of the tietäjä's behaviour, the incantation uttered in a normal speaking voice is a late phenomenon. It also appears that the Eastern Finnish and Karelian tietäjä institution in particular retained elements of the pre-Christian, Scandinavian belief tradition longer than any other

Elias Lönnrot etnografina – Unus homo nobis cursando resituit rem

Kansallisen ja kansainvälisen, nationalismin ja imperialismin loimet ja kuteet sovittuivat 1800-luvulla toisiinsa monimuotoisemmin kuin suomalaisuuden rakentamista koskevassa keskustelussa on tahdottu nähdä. Elias Lönnrotin tutkimusmatkojen salaisuus ei ole hänen talonpoikainen taustansa ja kouluaikainen tottumuksensa patikkamatkoihin ja yksinkertaiseen elämäntapaan. Nämä ehkä helpottivat raskaissa olosuhteissa selviytymistä. Kansainvälinen tutkimusmatkatraditio antoi ne mallit, joiden mukaan hän tavoitteensa toteutti

Hidden rituals and public performances: Traditions and belonging among the post-Soviet Khanty, Komi and Udmurts

Why are Khanty shamans still active? What are the folklore collectives of Komi? Why are the rituals of Udmurts performed at cultural festivals? In their insightful ethnographic study Anna-Leena Siikala and Oleg Ulyashev attempt to answer such questions by analysing the recreation of religious traditions, myths, and songs in public and private performances. Their work is based on long term fieldwork undertaken during the 1990s and 2000s in three different places, the Northern Ob region in North West Siberia and in the Komi and Udmurt Republics. It sheds light on how different traditions are favoured and transformed in multicultural Russia today. Siikala and Ulyashev examine rituals, songs, and festivals that emphasize specificity and create feelings of belonging between members of families, kin groups, villages, ethnic groups, and nations, and interpret them from a perspective of area, state, and cultural policies. A closer look at post-Soviet Khanty, Komi and Udmurts shows that opportunities to perform ethnic culture vary significantly among Russian minorities with different histories and administrative organisation. Within this variation the dialogue between local and administrative needs is decisive

Finnish Rock Art, Animal-Ceremonialism and Shamanism

No abstract availabl

Himmeneekö aikuisuus?

Kirjallisuusarvostel