Antropologicheskij forum, 2019, no. 41

FEATURES OF THE MODERN COMMEMORATION RITUALS OF BELARUSIAN PODVINJE

Uladzimir Auseichyk
Polotsk State University
29 Blokhina Str., Novopolotsk, Belarus
u.auseichyk()psu.by

Abstract: The article considers the modern memorial rituals of the population of the Belarusian Podvinje. The region occupies the northern part of Belarus and is located in the basin of the Western Dvina and its tributaries. The article is based on materials from field ethnographic studies of the 1990s to early 2000s, most of which were collected by the author. The study analyzes individual (private) and calendar commemoration rites: commemoration traditions on the third, ninth, fortieth (thirtieth) days, the anniversary of the death, as well as in the structure of the calendar ritual (Dedy, Easter, Radunitsa, Trinity). The order of ritual actions is considered, some of their regional features and local differences within the region’s borders are revealed. The author concludes that the memorial rituals retain many traditional features, but are at the same time simplified and reduced. Ceremonial actions during memorials are unified, reduced to a common structure, and the boundaries between common and individual memorials are erased. At the same time, the commemoration rites of the Podvinje have significant local differences which are manifested in the names of the rituals, the area of distribution, and the peculiarities of holding them.

Keywords: memorial rites, Belarusians, Dvina region (Podvinje), commemoration, ritual, traditional culture, evolution, Dedy, Radunitsa, Trinity.

To cite: Auseichyk U., ‘Osobennosti sovremennoy pominalnoy obryadnosti belorusov Podvinya’ [Features of the Modern Commemoration Rituals of Belarusian Podvinje], Antropologicheskij forum, 2019, no. 41, pp. 123–144.

doi: 10.31250/1815-8870-2019-15-41-123-144

URL: http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/041/auseichyk.pdf