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

Acknowledgements . . 9
Abbreviations . . 13

I REPRESENTATIONS OF THE RUSSIAN FINNO-UGRIANS

1. Societies in transition . . 17

2. Traditions in a globalised world . . 19
Are traditions dying? . . 19
Tradition as a concept of introspective Western sociology . . 21
Locality, globalisation and identity-formation . . 22
Co-existence of divergent traditions . . 24

3. Belonging and neo-traditionalism . . 27
Ethnic self-awareness . . 27
The state, intellectuals and the construction of heritage . . 29
Finno-Ugric ethnicities in the making . . 31

4. Interest in Finno-Ugric peoples . . 34
Language, myths and folklore as "evidence of history" . . 34
The expeditions of Finns and Hungarians to their linguistic relatives in Russia . . 36
The aims of the Russian Academy of Sciences . . 39
The basic model of ethnographic field work in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries . . 40
Field work after the collapse of the Soviet Union . . 42
From moments to understanding . . 43
Between cultures: dialogues, monologues and silences . . 46

II THE KHANTY: PRESERVING AND PERFORMING RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS

5. The land of the white crane . . 51
Behind the Urals . . 51
Worlds flowing into each other . . 52
Experience of locality: rivers and settlements like layers of an onion . . 54
The cross-draught in interethnic relations . . 57
Division of space and practices of avoidance . . 60
Gender: together but apart . . 65

6. Dual organisation, totemic ancestors and kin groups . . 68
Moś- and Por-people . . 68
The animal protector . . 73
L'aksas, reincarnation of a person . . 75
The kinship system . . 76

7. Discussions about myths and tales . . 78
Myths written in the heavens . . 78
Myths of Uralic hunting cultures . . 85
Mythic corpus . . 88
Myths of individuals and small communities . . 91

8. Living with spirits . . 112
Religious worlds of the Northern Khanty . . 112
The cosmos . . 115
The hierarchy of spirits . . 117
Guardian spirits of home and family . . 123
Feeding the spirits at home . . 129
Why worship spirits? . . 132

9. Holy groves and common rituals . . 134
The landscape of the spirits . . 134
Men's and women's holy groves . . 140
Offerings in holy groves . . 144
Common rites, different meanings . . 152

10. Paths of souls, villages of the dead . . 153
Concepts of souls . . 154
Burial rituals . . 156
Remembrance rituals in graveyards . . 167
The passages of souls and continuation of family . . 174

11. The reawakening of shamanic rituals . . 176
Did the Khanty have shamans? . . 176
The concept of shamanism . . 177
Shamans in Khanty society . . 179
The shamanic seance . . 181
Shamans are performing publicly again . . 185
Different interpretations: belief and entertainment . . 191

12. Religion, kin and environment . . 193
Hallmarks of Khanty religion . . 193
Unity of religion, kin and nature . .195
Religion and belonging . . 196

III THE KOMI: PROLIFERATING SINGING TRADITIONS

13. The singing culture of the Upper Vychegda Komi . . 201
Studying Komi singing . . 201
Did the Komi have a singing culture? . . 203
The Upper Vychegda Komi . . 206
Hunting artels as folklore arenas . . 208
Gender relations and songs . . 211
The fusion of singing traditions . . 217

14. Folklore, cultural institutions and festivals . . 218
Folklore as verbal peasant art . . 218
Drama circles and the growth of poetry . . 220
Strengthening the village culture . . 221
The Upper Vychegda collectives . . 222
A life as a cultural director . . 227
Women leaders . . 230

15. "Singing for myself and for my soul" . . 231
At Anna Ivanovna's . . 231
Polyphonic singing . . 232
Transmitting traditions . . 234
Performing traditions . . 235
Dressing up for performance . . 236
Being together . . 238
From politics to women's culture . . 242

16. Folk-editing and variation in songs . . 247
Programmes of folklore groups . . 247
Textualisation and variation of songs . . 250
Old Komi folk texts . . 253
Macaronic and Russian songs . . 266
Songs translated into Komi . . 268
Songs to the words of Komi poets . . 274
Folk variants of the poems of known writers . . 276
Creating the programme . . 282

17. A state project leads to multiple forms of tradition . . 285

IV COMPARISONS AND OBSERVATIONS

18. An Udmurt case: from sacrificial rituals to national festivals . . 291
Holy groves and social order . . 293
Visible and hidden: the battle of ideologies and religions . . 297
From secret ritual into national festival . . 300
Female agency and marked diversities . . 303
The role of intellectuals and the media . . 307
Construction of tradition and cultural identity . . 309

19. Traditions symbolising cultural distinction . . 311
Myths and rituals as political practice . . 311
The revival of nature religion . . 314
Reconstructing sacred histories . . 317
Performing ethnicity in festivals . . 317
Political and economic implications of neo-traditionalism . . 319

20. Dynamics of tradition among the Khanty, Komi and Udmurts . . 320

Bibliography . . 323
Khanty words . . 341
Transliteration of Komi . . 349
Index . . 351
Maps . . 362