4 December 23, 2015
Relevant Topic: Death and Commemoration in the Slavic Traditions
1. Maria A. Andrunina
Transformation of the Traditional Death Connected Customs: Loss and Modification of Their Elements
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 232-241.
Number of views: 2000 Download in PDF
2. Irina A. KuznetsovaRusskaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 232-241.
Abstract:
The article analyzes innovations and changes in Slavic funeral and remembrance rites, the most unchanging and archaic branch of tradition culture. The paper deals mostly with two ways of their modification: loss of some elements or accommodation of them to modern circumstances. Elimination of different ritual parts concerns mostly funerals of special group of dead, so called unclean (suicidal, killed, children etc.). Customs of their burial and remembrance, believes and taboo concerning their graves preserve a lot of ancient traits. Traditionally for their inhumation places beyond the sacred ground of cemetery were chosen, often in wilderness: woods, fields, road sides and crossroads, sometimes even marshes. Some were buried in estates or houses (mostly children); this practice persisted for some time in the Eastern Polesye. These rituals and corresponding beliefs are dying away now. Another option of changes is accommodation to a new way of life. Example of this was recently found in field in Mogilewsky region. Mobility of new generations, when people work far from home, endangers well known spring remembrance practice held in cemeteries. That is why they put a tablecloth over the coffin during burial in order to have it there if nobody comes in spring to cover the grave and commemorate the deceased. Of course, there are other ways of alteration: giving new meaning to old customs, adaptation from neighboring regions and nations etc. So, even the strictest and unyielding tradition can change with the tide of time. And the weakest links are proved to be those connected with the archaic notions of traditional culture that in general might be referred to as mythological worldview.
The article analyzes innovations and changes in Slavic funeral and remembrance rites, the most unchanging and archaic branch of tradition culture. The paper deals mostly with two ways of their modification: loss of some elements or accommodation of them to modern circumstances. Elimination of different ritual parts concerns mostly funerals of special group of dead, so called unclean (suicidal, killed, children etc.). Customs of their burial and remembrance, believes and taboo concerning their graves preserve a lot of ancient traits. Traditionally for their inhumation places beyond the sacred ground of cemetery were chosen, often in wilderness: woods, fields, road sides and crossroads, sometimes even marshes. Some were buried in estates or houses (mostly children); this practice persisted for some time in the Eastern Polesye. These rituals and corresponding beliefs are dying away now. Another option of changes is accommodation to a new way of life. Example of this was recently found in field in Mogilewsky region. Mobility of new generations, when people work far from home, endangers well known spring remembrance practice held in cemeteries. That is why they put a tablecloth over the coffin during burial in order to have it there if nobody comes in spring to cover the grave and commemorate the deceased. Of course, there are other ways of alteration: giving new meaning to old customs, adaptation from neighboring regions and nations etc. So, even the strictest and unyielding tradition can change with the tide of time. And the weakest links are proved to be those connected with the archaic notions of traditional culture that in general might be referred to as mythological worldview.
Number of views: 2000 Download in PDF
Role of the Orthodox Church Services in the Forming of Folk Attitudes Towards the Dead
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 242-250.
Number of views: 1854 Download in PDF
3. Natalya A. ArkhipenkoRusskaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 242-250.
Abstract:
The paper characterizes the influence of the divine services to the Kuban Cossack’s notions of death and to the contents of the funeral and memorial rites. The author consequently examines several aspects of this influence. The divine services are analyzed as a source of the texts, terms, and modus operandi, as means of forming the attitude to dead, the communication with the deceased, and attitude to the personal death. The author also briefly touches upon the cases of folk customs influencing divine services.
The paper characterizes the influence of the divine services to the Kuban Cossack’s notions of death and to the contents of the funeral and memorial rites. The author consequently examines several aspects of this influence. The divine services are analyzed as a source of the texts, terms, and modus operandi, as means of forming the attitude to dead, the communication with the deceased, and attitude to the personal death. The author also briefly touches upon the cases of folk customs influencing divine services.
Number of views: 1854 Download in PDF
City Cemetery as a Ritual Space for the Victory Day Celebrations
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 251-257.
Number of views: 2020 Download in PDF
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 251-257.
Abstract:
The paper analyzes private commemorative actions of the Rostovites timed to the celebration of the Victory Day. The author systematizes the data received while conducting participant observation during the visits to city cemeteries, photographing, holding surveys with the visitors of the Northern Cemetery of Rostov-on-Don. The paper reveals the ways of the visual designating the private remembrance participants on the 9th of May, the types of actions performed on the graves of the relative veterans, versions of the texts regularly used in case of annual remembrance.
The paper analyzes private commemorative actions of the Rostovites timed to the celebration of the Victory Day. The author systematizes the data received while conducting participant observation during the visits to city cemeteries, photographing, holding surveys with the visitors of the Northern Cemetery of Rostov-on-Don. The paper reveals the ways of the visual designating the private remembrance participants on the 9th of May, the types of actions performed on the graves of the relative veterans, versions of the texts regularly used in case of annual remembrance.
Number of views: 2020 Download in PDF
Articles and Statements
4. Artyom Y. Peretyatko
Russians and Ukrainians in the Don Host Oblast: the Background of Division of the Donetsk and Taganrog Districts Between the RSFSR and the UkSSR
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 258-282.
Number of views: 1878 Download in PDF
5. Igor S. TomilovRusskaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 258-282.
Abstract:
The article considers the history of the transmission of the western districts of the Don Cossack Oblast to the UkSSR in the 1920s. On the basis of numerous testimonies of contemporaries, as well as literature on the peasant colonization of the Don region, the author concludes that in these territories from the 18th century Little Russian population prevailed. Little Russians were largely assimilated, and the term “Little Russian” has come to mean not only the ethnonym, but an estate accessory to the indigenous peasantry, including the Great Russian. The article analyzes those aspects of Russian-Ukrainian relations in the Don region, which were more general, in particular, about the reasons of a more positive attitude Cossacks to Little Russians, than the Great Russians. The results of the study are the findings that the Don Host Oblast was characterized by the confusion of ethnic and estate markers and that aggravation of interethnic relations in the Don region occurred only in 1870. The territory of the western districts was mastered in the previous period under the close cooperation of the Cossacks and the Ukrainians. The author argues that historically undisputed border between Russia and Ukraine in the former territory of the Don Host Oblast is impossible in principle.
The article considers the history of the transmission of the western districts of the Don Cossack Oblast to the UkSSR in the 1920s. On the basis of numerous testimonies of contemporaries, as well as literature on the peasant colonization of the Don region, the author concludes that in these territories from the 18th century Little Russian population prevailed. Little Russians were largely assimilated, and the term “Little Russian” has come to mean not only the ethnonym, but an estate accessory to the indigenous peasantry, including the Great Russian. The article analyzes those aspects of Russian-Ukrainian relations in the Don region, which were more general, in particular, about the reasons of a more positive attitude Cossacks to Little Russians, than the Great Russians. The results of the study are the findings that the Don Host Oblast was characterized by the confusion of ethnic and estate markers and that aggravation of interethnic relations in the Don region occurred only in 1870. The territory of the western districts was mastered in the previous period under the close cooperation of the Cossacks and the Ukrainians. The author argues that historically undisputed border between Russia and Ukraine in the former territory of the Don Host Oblast is impossible in principle.
Number of views: 1878 Download in PDF
Trade and Market Position of the Tobolsk Province in the Second Half of the 19th – the Early 20th Centuries
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 283-295.
Number of views: 1813 Download in PDF
6. Vitaliy R. IvanchyshenRusskaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 283-295.
Abstract:
Trade is a kind of practical expression of effective development of economy, a reflection of its performance. The change in commodity circulation, export and import, financial institutions, the number of wholesale and retail locations for sales and some other indicators provide the basis to judge the rise or fall of agricultural and industrial characteristics, as well as to assess the level of welfare of the population. This article attempted to review the trading and market condition in the Tobolsk province in the second half of 19th – early 20th centuries. This period saw the approval of a new stage of social development that gave impetus to economic development of the whole country and its separate regions. The study, based on analysis of archival, statistical, economic and other data, will reflect the dynamics of important factors and elements of trade in the province of Tobolsk with expansion of transport infrastructure, the change of export-import balance, expanding of the fair network, the growth of credit and banking sector among them. Altogether, the obtained results allow to judge the nationwide impact of industrial growth on the development of the retail industry in the region under study in the designated time frame.
Trade is a kind of practical expression of effective development of economy, a reflection of its performance. The change in commodity circulation, export and import, financial institutions, the number of wholesale and retail locations for sales and some other indicators provide the basis to judge the rise or fall of agricultural and industrial characteristics, as well as to assess the level of welfare of the population. This article attempted to review the trading and market condition in the Tobolsk province in the second half of 19th – early 20th centuries. This period saw the approval of a new stage of social development that gave impetus to economic development of the whole country and its separate regions. The study, based on analysis of archival, statistical, economic and other data, will reflect the dynamics of important factors and elements of trade in the province of Tobolsk with expansion of transport infrastructure, the change of export-import balance, expanding of the fair network, the growth of credit and banking sector among them. Altogether, the obtained results allow to judge the nationwide impact of industrial growth on the development of the retail industry in the region under study in the designated time frame.
Number of views: 1813 Download in PDF
Trading Interconnections of Podillia and Kherson Provinces in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries (The Case of Stone Cutting Production)
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 296-302.
Number of views: 1823 Download in PDF
7. Tatyana G. KurbatRusskaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 296-302.
Abstract:
The article considers a poorly studied problem of stone cutting as the component of Ukrainian traditional culture. The stone cutting has gained considerable development during the 19th – early 20th centuries. The presence of local stone cutting workshops in the territory of Odesa district of Kherson province is noted in the article. But the local craftsmen because of their fewness were not able to provide the economic and functional demands of the inhabitants. Trading interconnections of historical and ethnographic regions of the Eastern Podillia and Southern Ukraine in the field of stone cutting production are elucidated and analyzed in the article on the example of both regions. The wide usage of stone cutting goods is also explained with their household necessity. The place of stone cutting production in the trading operations of chumaky (Ukrainian oxcart drivers) in the late 19th – early 20th centuries is also one of the important aspects of the problem. It is also noted that the sacral folk praxises in ritual and custom sphere, connected with stone goods, have been transferred gradually from Podillia to the territory of Kherson province, that has undoubtedly assisted the formation of inner market and the united social and cultural areal.
The article considers a poorly studied problem of stone cutting as the component of Ukrainian traditional culture. The stone cutting has gained considerable development during the 19th – early 20th centuries. The presence of local stone cutting workshops in the territory of Odesa district of Kherson province is noted in the article. But the local craftsmen because of their fewness were not able to provide the economic and functional demands of the inhabitants. Trading interconnections of historical and ethnographic regions of the Eastern Podillia and Southern Ukraine in the field of stone cutting production are elucidated and analyzed in the article on the example of both regions. The wide usage of stone cutting goods is also explained with their household necessity. The place of stone cutting production in the trading operations of chumaky (Ukrainian oxcart drivers) in the late 19th – early 20th centuries is also one of the important aspects of the problem. It is also noted that the sacral folk praxises in ritual and custom sphere, connected with stone goods, have been transferred gradually from Podillia to the territory of Kherson province, that has undoubtedly assisted the formation of inner market and the united social and cultural areal.
Number of views: 1823 Download in PDF
The Tragedy of the Soviet Prisoners of War in the Big Bend of the Don River (1942–1943)
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 303-308.
Number of views: 1871 Download in PDF
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 303-308.
Abstract:
The article reveals the tragic fate of the Soviet prisoners of war during the fighting in the big bend of the Don River in the 1942–1943. The lack of food and health care, infectious diseases, and adverse weather conditions led to high mortality among the Soviet soldiers and commanders. It grew out of the use of the Soviet war prisoners for hard work, and also because of the systematic beatings and shootings. The article is written on the basis of documents of the State Archives of the Russian Federation and the Documentation Center of the Modern History of the Rostov Region.
The article reveals the tragic fate of the Soviet prisoners of war during the fighting in the big bend of the Don River in the 1942–1943. The lack of food and health care, infectious diseases, and adverse weather conditions led to high mortality among the Soviet soldiers and commanders. It grew out of the use of the Soviet war prisoners for hard work, and also because of the systematic beatings and shootings. The article is written on the basis of documents of the State Archives of the Russian Federation and the Documentation Center of the Modern History of the Rostov Region.
Number of views: 1871 Download in PDF
Casus: The History of Russia in the Small Peas
8. Aleksandra V. Gayvoronskaya
Duels Between Officers of the Kuban Cossack Host (The Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries)
Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 309-316.
Number of views: 1855 Download in PDF
9. Russkaya Starina, 2015, Vol.(16), Is. 4, pp. 309-316.
Abstract:
The article is based on the analysis of the court documents and presents the reconstruction of the conflict cases among the officers of the Kuban Cossack Host. I consequently characterize the reasons for the officers’ duels, options of conflict resolution, and results of the court proceedings concerning the issues of honour. I characterize files kept in the State Archive of the Krasnosar Krai about the cases of duels appointed but been resolved peacefully; the cases of the duels, which took place and ended with the conciliation of participants or one’s death. As a result of the research, I draw a conclusion on the regulations of the officers’ relations regarding conflicts and on factors, which influences the officer’s choise of the options to vindicate honour.
The article is based on the analysis of the court documents and presents the reconstruction of the conflict cases among the officers of the Kuban Cossack Host. I consequently characterize the reasons for the officers’ duels, options of conflict resolution, and results of the court proceedings concerning the issues of honour. I characterize files kept in the State Archive of the Krasnosar Krai about the cases of duels appointed but been resolved peacefully; the cases of the duels, which took place and ended with the conciliation of participants or one’s death. As a result of the research, I draw a conclusion on the regulations of the officers’ relations regarding conflicts and on factors, which influences the officer’s choise of the options to vindicate honour.
Number of views: 1855 Download in PDF