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Folklore: EFF 76 - Komi edition
We are very glad to present to you the special edition of Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore dedicated to Komi folkloristics. The publication is compiled by N. Kuznetsov and L. Lobanova and is an expert of today’s Komi folklore studies. The articles present various methodological approaches to the selection and analysis of folklore material as well as the scientific interests of Komi folklore researches. The issue was prepared within the framework of cooperation between the Department of Folkloristics of the Estonian Literary Museum and the Folklore Department of the Komi Science Centre.
The article by Oleg Uliashev is about the ethnic-cultural and ethnic-genetic links between the Komi, Khanty, and Mansi peoples. On the basis of folklore and ethnographic and historical materials, the author suggests that some Khanty groups are formed of Komi, Khanty, and Mansi components.
Pavel Limerov analyses some storylines of Komi legends about the creation of the world. The object of analysis is a contamination of mythological stories of earth-diving and world creation from an egg. The article considers in detail the main components of the stories that have no parallel in similar texts.
Anatoly Paniukov studies the origin and usage of zaum’ – a complicated and very peculiar phenomenon. The author analyses one particular example of the Komi charming ritual and offers a hypothesis that linguistic transformations known as zaum’ can appear as a result of using the source text in the rhythmic matrix of becharming procedures.
Liudmila Lobanova discusses the verbal component of cattle-breeding rituals. The becharming texts are divided into five types: sentence, ritual dialogue, spell, lamentation, and prayer. A structural and semantic analysis of the most popular sentences gives rise to the definition of two types of texts: close-structure and open-structure sentences.
The article by Alexei Rassykhaev is dedicated to a children’s game of calling a house spirit (domovoi), which is unique for the traditional Komi culture. Various versions of the game have similar scenarios and the goal of the game is to verify whether the creature exists, and establish contact with it.
Galina Savelyeva presents the dynamics of Christmas youth gatherings in the Vishera micro-local tradition. The author describes the different stages of this set of rituals: traditional, Soviet-time teenagers, and today.
The article by Julia Krasheninnikova and Svetlana Nizovtseva introduces folklore materials collected in the twenty-first century from the Russian population of the mining villages in the Komi Republic. The authors analyse the Christmas rituals and the poetry used by children and adults when visiting neighbours during Christmas.
The final article of the collection by Julia Krasheninnikova analyses the scenarios of oral historical prose in the same local tradition.
From editorial board you can find the aricle about Kasks diaspora in the Republic of Kyrgystan by Bibiziya Kalshabayeva, Gulnara Dadabayeva and Dauren Eshkebaev.
The articles are followed by an interview and a book review.
The issue is available online at http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol76
