Ethnology 

Glushenko M.A.

Building technologies of the Angara region in the end of the 19^th — first half of the 20^th century based on the oral information of old-timers

For the study of building technologies, the most valuable material is the oral information of old-timers-carpenters. In the Angara region, quite a lot of such sources have been assembled by ethnographic expeditions since the 1920s. Therefore, for this region it is possible to examine the complete technological range of traditional construction in the late 19^th — first half of the 20^th century. The opinion of the old-timers themselves has been brought about the reason for the change in building technologies, the time of the appearance of new tools and technologies, production standards, as well as about the ways to determine the relative age of buildings based on their design and materials. The oral information on construction techniques systematized in the article suggests that the level of carpentry skill depended more on the abundance of the source base of building materials, and to a lesser extent on the availability of advanced tools. The study also allowed determining a uniform set of construction techniques, the geographical boundaries of which may be wider than the territory under consideration.

Keywords: Angara region, wooden architecture, building culture, craft, carpentry technologies.

Galieva F.G.

Healing practices of the Russian population of the Southern Urals: border loci, sacred objects and items

In this paper, the information on folk medicine of Russian settlers of the Southern Urals (Ufa Province, now Bashkortostan and Chelyabinsk regions) is presented. The purpose of the study is to identify the common ideas about border loci, and sacred objects and items in folk medicine of Russians and other communities. The research method used is a comparative historical analysis of information collected from Russians and other ethnic groups, which makes it possible to draw time analogies and establish intercultural connections. Based on archival and field materials, and published sources, places of deliverance from illnesses (steam house, hen house, yard) and objects of “transfer” of the disease (chickens, dogs, “stove smoke”, various items) have been identified. Methods associated with “deception” of the disease using a sacral opening (window, horse collar), border loci (stove, door, gate, pillar), the use of alikes (red fabric for “red” diseases ― rubella, erysipelas and measles) have been analysed. Ethnocultural parallels in healing magic using old bast shoes have been identified. Conclusions have been drawn about the preservation of some healing practices, especially in Russian villages remote from the centers of urbanization.

Keywords: Russians of the Southern Urals, prayers and spells, border loci, sacral opening, “purchase and sale” of a child.

Dronova T.I.

Censing in the traditional culture of old believers-bespopovtsy of Ust-Tsilma

In this article, censing in the folk culture of Russian old believers-bespopovtsy living in the Ust-Tsilemsky District of the Komi Republic has been analyzed. In the post-schism period, the church rite of censing was inherited by lay old believers, adapted to their religious culture, and at present time it is actively practiced by them. The article provides a dialect vocabulary reflecting the process of censing and identifies the circle of lay people who have the right to perform this ritual. In the process of research, it has been established that in the religious life of the Ust-Tsilma old believers, censing frankincense is the most important ritual action, reuniting a person with God, having a purifying and apotropaic meaning, and establishing a connection between the living and the dead. It is also an important element in the routine ritual life of the Ust-Tsilma old believers, having its own local characteristics: it is performed not only during the church services, but also in everyday life. Censing is performed in private homes on holy days, on purchased equipment, and livestock. This ritual is given a particular importance in funeral and memorial rites. Each action is accompanied by censing and is aimed at purifying the deceased in the process of preparing them for their final journey: the moment of death of a person, ablution, transfer of the body into the coffin, clearing the road to the cemetery. Censing constitutes an obligatory part of funeral rites.

Keywords: Old Believers-bespopovtsy, Ust-Tsilma, incense, censer, ritual, connection with God, apotropaia.

Dubova N.A., Navruzbekov M.N., Nikiforov M.G.

Territorial variability of the Hisobi Mard time account in the Pamir region and Darvaz

For the first time in recent decades, a large-scale study of the Hisobi Mard or time counting by human body, which is a unique solar calendar known only in this region and lacking analogues in other cultures, has been conducted in the vast territory of Pamir and Darvaz. As a result of the research, extensive body of materials has been collected allowing comparison of the knowledge of modern informants with the data collected by Soviet ethnographers 70–90 years ago. It has been found that the knowledge about time counting by human body has not changed in recent decades. Thus, despite the natural changes in society caused by political, social and economic processes, modern informants know the account of Hisobi Mard no less than those who lived in the 1930s–1950s. This was a somewhat unexpected result, since with the availability of an accurate modern calendar and the informatization of society, the traditional folk calendar has long become irrelevant in everyday life, but nevertheless, it is being passed on from generation to generation. Based on modern data, it can be argued that the Hisobi Mard calendar had territorial variability, when the options for implementing the account could differ in neighboring regions yet remaining uniform within same region. A hypothesis about the evolution of the Hisobi Mard calendar has been proposed, according to which it underwent simplification in the process of cultural exchange and migration of the population.

Keywords: Tajikistan, Pamir, Solar calendars, counting by human body parts.

Bezgin V.B., Viazinkin A.Yu.

Anthropology of peasant protest during the years of “revolutionary turning point”

Based on a wide range of published sources and archival materials, including documents of official record management, newspaper reports and chronicles, a historical and anthropological analysis of the generational factor during the period of the phenomenal peasant protest of the “revolutionary turning point” has been presented. Generational methodology made it possible to conduct historical and anthropological research conside-ring the generational structure of Russian and Soviet society in the first third of the 20^th century. The new foreshortening of this research is aimed at identifying conflicts in the legal consciousness of the peasantry in conditions of revolutionary turbulence. Determining the role of children, adolescents and rural youth in various forms of peasant protest made it possible to combine thematic issues of peasant studies, gender studies and historical anthropology. The relationship between the emotional state of the peasantry, generational ties in the village, and the role of the community in organizing the participation of children, adolescents and youth in various forms of protest has been revealed in the context of the tradition of peasant protest in Russia. The article emphasizes that, despite the innovations of revolutionary times, the importance of the community in the “protest” solution of problematic relationships “village — government” remained decisive, and the peasant protest preserved the traditional goals of rural residents — the desire for truth and justice. Specific examples demonstrate the relevance of the proposed historical and anthropological typology of the peasant protests: non-violent protest, local rebellion, and peasant revolution.

Keywords: peasant rebellion, historical anthropology, the generation of the “revolutionary turning point”, rural archaic, generational history.

Bissenova A.Zh., Rodionov A.N.

From Magnitogorsk to Ufa: social mobility, class and regional identity

Through the context of life stories of several middle-aged and older informants from Magnitogorsk, we explore the transformation of the middle class from industrial to post-industrial from the point of employment, values and social mobility strategies. At the time of our study, several of our informants either had relocated, were relocating, or were contemplating to move from Magnitogorsk to Ufa; their narrations on the re-settlement became the starting point in our research aims to find out how people in the Urals form an idea of a decent life, of what constitutes an acceptable or unacceptable working and living environment, how they make a decision to move, weighing the pros and cons, and how they prepare the grounds for moving and settling in a new place. The results of the study show the presence of a strong regional identity among our informants, which is manifested in their desire to avoid radical disconnection and loss, both in terms of established social ties and in terms of personal historical ties with the place they consider their small homeland. At their relocation, we observe how they search for their identity and reinvent themselves building a new life, using skills and habits that they already carried to some extent before moving.

Keywords: social mobility, middle class, Urals regional identity, problems of monotown, post-industrial age, regional migration.