FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL RITES OF THE CHUVASH IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORKS OF THE XX – EARLY XXI CENTURY: TO THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PROBLEM

DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2024-3-117-128

УДК 393.05

ББК 63.5

Igor G. PETROV

Key words: the Chuvash, funeral and memorial customs and rituals, research works, historiography.

The article presents the history of studying funeral and memorial rites of the Chuvash during the century period between the twentieth and the beginning of the XXI century. The problem under discussion is relevant and of both scientific and practical interest. Despite the fact that the history of ethnographic studying the Chuvash people has been covered many times in previous publications, this area in the historiographical aspect has not been specifically considered or it was analyzed in general terms along with other issues.

The purpose of the study is to conduct a brief review of the literature on funeral and memorial rites of the Chuvash from the XX century to the beginning of the XXI century. The scientific novelty of the article lies in primacy of the problem statement and its scientific analysis.

Materials and methods. The article is based on the analysis of literary and documentary materials using the chronological method – the study of historical events and facts from the perspective of sequence, movement and changes in accordance with the progressive course of historical time. The research was conducted using the methods of analysis, synthesis, systematization, historicism, objectivity, consistency and concreteness.

Research results. The work shows the historiography of studying funeral rites and funeral feasts of the Chuvash of the Ural-Volga region in the Soviet (1920–1990-ies) and post-Soviet (1990s – the first decade of the XXI century) periods. It was made taking into account the most significant publications on the subject in question that were published during the period under study. The historiographical review and analysis of the literature show that, compared with previous eras, the Soviet and the post-Soviet periods are characterized by a more systematic and in-depth approach to the study of this problem. Research on this topic is distinguished by a wide chronological and territorial coverage, a high scientific and methodological level, introduction of archival, field (expedition) sources into scientific circulation, a comprehensive development of the topic with participation of scientists of different specialties – historians, ethnographers, art historians, linguists, folklorists, philosophers, cultural studies scholars, etc. Despite this, the funeral rite of the Chuvash did not become a topic of special and in-depth study. In the vast majority of studies, customs and rituals associated with human death are shown generically, without detailing and differentiation in accordance with the ethnographic, ethno-territorial and ethno-confessional characteristics of the Chuvash people. They lack a holistic approach and comparative analysis, descriptiveness and compilation prevail, the transfer of individual or local features of the ritual to the funeral rites of the entire Chuvash people.

Conclusions. To date, a huge amount of information has been accumulated on the funeral and memorial rites of the Chuvash in the Russian science, including during the chronological period under consideration, however, an attempt aimed at its holistic characterization and analysis in the form of a special scientific study has not been undertaken yet and is waiting for its researcher. Perhaps in the near future, this gap in Chuvash studies will be overcome and this type of family ritualism will be studied appropriately.

References

1. Afanas’eva L.A. Terminologiya pokhoronno–pominal‘noi obryadnosti chuvashei (opyt sravnitel‘no–sopostavitel‘nogo i etnolingvokul‘turologicheskogo issledovaniya) [Terminology of funeral and memorial rite of сhuvashs (experience of comparative and ethnolinguulurological research)]. Sterlitamak, Sterlitamak branch of Baskir State Unuversity Publ., 2017, 167 p.
2. Ashmarin N.I. Slovar’ chuvashskogo yazyka [The Chuvash language dictionary]. Cheboksary, 1928–1950, iss. I–XVII.
3. Gallyamova A.G., Stolyarova G.R. Yazychniki v sovetskom i postsovetskom vremeni (na primere chuvashei s. Staroe Surkino Respubliki Tatarstan) [Pagans in the Soviet and post-Soviet times (on the example of the сhuvash village of Old Surkino of the Republic of Tatarstan)]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie, 2015, no. 5, 51–62.
4. Danilov A.A., Danilova M.G. Istoriya sozdaniya truda Kheikki Paasonena «Gebräuche und Volksdichtung der Tschuwassen» (Obychai i narodnaya poeziya chuvashei) [The history of the creation of Heikki Paasonen’s work «Gebräuche und Volksdichtung der Tschuwassen» (Customs and folk poetry of the chuvashs)]. Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, 2016, no. 2, pp. 37–41.
5. Denisov P.V. Religioznye verovaniya chuvash: istoriko-etnograficheskie ocherki [Chuvash religious beliefs: historical and ethnographic essays]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 1959, 408 p.
6. Denisov P.V. Religiya i ateizm chuvashskogo naroda [Religion and atheism of the Сhuvash people]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 1972, 477 p.
7. Denisov P.V. Etnokul’turnye paralleli dunaiskikh bolgar i chuvashei [Ethnocultural parallels of the Danube Bulgarians and Chuvashs]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 1969, 176 p.
8. Ivanov V.P. Istoriya etnografii chuvashskogo naroda. Ocherki [History of ethnography of the Сhuvash people. Essays]. Cheboksary, 2011, 112 p.
9. Ivanov L.A. Yazycheskie nadgrobiya na chuvashskikh pogrebeniyakh [Pagan tombstones at the Chuvash burials]. In: Uchenye zapiski ChNII. Vyp. 47 [Scientific notes of the Chuvash Research Institute. Issue 47]. Cheboksary, 1969, pp. 253–258.
10. Kakhovskii B.V. Dokhristianskii pogrebal’nyi kul’t chuvashskogo naseleniya: dis. … kand. ist. nauk [Pre-Christian funeral cult of the Chuvash population. Cand. Diss.] Cheboksary, 1980, 306 p.
11. Kakhovskii B.V. Dokhristianskii pogrebal’nyi obryad kak material k etnogenezu [Pre-Christian funeral rite of Chuvashs as material for ethnogenesis]. In: Bolgary i chuvashi: sb. st. [Bulgarians and Chuvashs: collection of articles]. Cheboksary, 1984, pp. 121–139.
12. Kakhovskii B.V. O nekotorykh parallelyakh pogrebal’nogo obryada volzhskikh bolgar i chuvashskogo yazycheskogo naseleniya [About some parallels of the funeral rite of the Volga Bulgarians and the Chuvash pagan population]. In: Trudy ChNII. Vyp. 93 [Proceedings of the Chuvash Research Institute. Issue 93]. Cheboksary, 1979, pp. 101–108.
13. Kakhovskii B.V. Pogrebal’nyi obryad chuvashskogo yazycheskogo naseleniya [Funeral rite of the Chuvash pagan population. In: Sovremennye sotsial’nye i etnicheskie protsessy v Chuvashskoi ASSR: sb. st. [Modern social and ethnic processes in the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic], Cheboksary, 1978, pp. 118–146.
14. Kakhovskii B.V. Skhodstva v pogrebal’noi obryadnosti chuvashei i vengrov [Similarities in the funeral rites of the Chuvashs and Hungarians]. In: Etnologiya religii chuvashei: sb. st. Vyp. 1 [Ethnology of the Chuvash religion. Festschrift. Issue 1]. Cheboksary, 2003, pp. 5–15.
15. Korovushkin D.G. Chuvashi Zapadnoi Sibiri (etnodispersnaya gruppa na sovremennom etape) [Chuvash of Western Siberia (ethnodisperse group at the present stage). Novosibirsk, Institute of Archeology and Ethnography Publ., 1997, 93 p.
16. Kryukova T.A. Kollektsii i ekspeditsionnye issledovaniya G.A. Nikitina v Chuvashskoi ASSR [Collections and expeditionary research G.A. Nikitin in the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In: Uchenye zapiski ChNII. Vyp. 47 [Scientific notes of the Chuvash Research Institute. Issue 47]. Cheboksary, 1969, pp. 238–242.
17. Kudryashov G.E. Dinamika polisinkreticheskoi religioznosti. Opyt istoriko-etnograficheskogo i konkretnogo sotsiologicheskogo issledovaniya genezisa, evolyutsii i otmiraniya religioznykh perezhitkov chuvashei [Dynamics of polysyncretic religiosity. The experience of historical, ethnographic and specific sociological research of the genesis, evolution and death of religious remnants of the Chuvashs] Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 1974, 356 p.
18. Kudryashov G.E. Perezhitki religioznykh verovanii chuvash i ikh preodolenie [Vestiges of Chuvash religious beliefs and overcoming them]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 1961, 164 p.
19. Matveev G.B. Ekspeditsii na Cheremshan (prazdniki i obryady chuvashei) [Expeditions to Cheremshan (holidays and rites of the Chuvash)]. In: Etnologiya religii chuvashei: sb. st. Vyp. 1 [Ethnology of the Chuvash religion. Festschrift. Issue 1]. Cheboksary, 2003, pp. 113–139.
20. Matveev G.M. Mifoyazycheskaya kartina mira etnosa (na primere mifov i yazycheskoi religii chuvashskogo naroda) [Mythological picture of the ethnos world (using the example of myths and the pagan religion of the Chuvash people)]. Cheboksary, 2012, 392 p.
21. Matorin N.M. Religiya u narodov Volzhsko-Kamskogo kraya prezhde i teper’: yazychestvo-islam-pravoslavie-sektanstvo [Religion among the peoples of the Volga-Kama region before and now: paganism-Islam-Orthodoxy-sectarianism]. Moscow, 1929, 174 p.
22. Medvedev V.V. Kladbishcha i nadmogil’nye sooruzheniya nekreshchenykh chuvashei Bashkortostana (po materialam issledovaniya 2010 goda) [Cemeteries and grave structures of unbaptized Chuvash in Bashkortostan (based on 2010 research)]. Problemy istorii, filologii, kul’tury, 2011, no. 2 (32), pp. 375–384.
23. Nikol’skii N.V. Kratkii konspekt po etnografii chuvash [Brief synopsis on Chuvash ethnography]. Kazan, 1919, 88 p.
24. Petrova R.N. Pogrebal’nyi obryad. Zapiski kraeveda [Funeral rite. Notes of a local historian]. In: Materialy po etnografii i antropologii chuvashei [Materials on anthropology and ethnography of the Chuvashы]. Cheboksary, Chuvash State Institute for the Humanities Publ., 1997, pp. 185–191.
25. Rodionov V.G. O sisteme chuvashskikh yazycheskikh obryadov [On the system of Chuvash pagan rites]. In: Chuvashskaya narodnaya poeziya [Chuvash folk poetry]. Cheboksary, 1990, pp. 3–64.
26. Salmin A.K. Narodnaya obryadnost’ chuvashei [Folk Rites of the Chuvashs]. Cheboksary, 1994, 339 p.
27. Salmin A.K. Prazdniki, obryady i verovaniya chuvashskogo naroda [Holidays, rites and beliefs of the Chuvash people]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 2016, 687 p.
28. Salmin A.K. Religiozno-obryadovaya sistema chuvashei [Religious and ritual system of the Chuvashs]. Cheboksary, 1993, 209 p.
29. Salmin A.K. Sistema religii chuvashei [Religion system of Chuvashs]. S-Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 2007, 654 p.
30. Sergeeva E.V. Ritual’nye blyuda i napitki chuvashei v semeinoi obryadnosti chuvashei i ikh magicheskie funktsii [Ritual dishes and drinks of the Chuvashs in the family rites of the Chuvashs and their magical functions]. In: Issledovaniya po etnologii chuvashskogo naroda: sb. st. [Studies on ethnology of the Chuvash people: collection of articles]. Cheboksary, 2021, iss. 1, pp. 243–261.
31. Sergeeva E.V. Traditsionnaya kukhnya i zastol’nyi etiket chuvashei (konets XIX – nachalo XXI veka.). Istoriko-etnograficheskoe issledovanie po materialam etnograficheskoi gruppy nizovykh chuvashei [Traditional cuisine and table etiquette of the Chuvashs (late XIX – early XXI century). Historical and ethnographic research based on materials from the ethnographic group of lower Chuvashs]. Cheboksary, 2015, 172 p.
32. Simbirsko-saratovskie chuvashi [Chuvashs of Simbirsk-Saratov region]. Cheboksary, 2004, 274 p.
33. Traditsionnaya kul’tura chuvashei: teksty. Materialy Nauchnogo arkhiva Chuvashskogo gosudarstvennogo instituta gumanitarnykh nauk [Traditional Chuvash culture: texts. Materials of the Scientific Archive of the Chuvash State Institute of Humanities]. St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University Publ., 2014, 358 p.
34. Trofimov A.A. Chuvashskaya narodnaya derevyannaya skul’ptura (Monumental’naya forma) [Chuvash folk wooden sculpture (Monumental form)]. In: Traditsii i poiski v chuvashskom iskusstve: sb. st. Cheboksary, Chuvash Research Institute, 1989, pp. 3–42.
35. Trofimov A.A. Chuvashskaya narodnaya kamennaya skul’ptura [Chuvash folk stone sculpture]. In: Issledovaniya po drevnei i sovremennoi kul’ture chuvashei: sb. st. [Studies on ancient and modern Chuvash culture: collection of articles]. Cheboksary, 1987, pp. 5–20.
36. Trofimov A.A. Chuvashskaya narodnaya kul’tovaya skul’ptura [Chuvash folk cult sculpture]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House,1993, 240 p.
37. Chernykh A.V., Kamenskikh M.S. Chuvashi v Permskom krae: ocherki istorii i etnografii [Chuvashs in the Perm Territory: essays on history and ethnography]. St. Petersburg, 2014, 272 p.
38. Chuvashi [Chuvashs]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2017, 654 p.
39. Chuvashi: etnograficheskoe issledovanie [Chuvashs: ethnographic researches]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House,1970, vol. 2, 308 p.
40. Chuvashi: istoriya i kul’tura. Istoriko-etnograficheskoe issledovanie [Chuvashs: history and culture. Historical and ethnographic research]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 2009, vol. 1-2.
41. Chuvashi Prisviyazh’ya [Chuvashs of Prisviyazhje areal]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 2015, 303 p.
42. Chuvashi Priural’ya: kul’turno-bytovye protsessy [Chuvashs of Cisural areal: cultural and everyday processes]. Cheboksary, 1989, 136 p.
43. Chuvashi Samarskoi Luki [Chuvashs of Samarskaya Luka areal]. Cheboksary, Chuvash State Institute for the Humanities Publ., 2003, 160 p.
44. Chuvashi yuga Tyumenskoi oblasti [Chuvashs of the south of the Tyumen region]. Cheboksary, Chuvash State Institute for the Humanities Publ., 2016, 288 p.
45. Chuvashskaya mifologiya: etnograficheskii spravochnik [Chuvash mythology: ethnographic handbook]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 2018. 591 p.
46. Chuvashskoe narodnoe tvorchestvo. Blagosloveniya i molitvosloviya [Chuvash folk art. Blessings and Prayers]. Cheboksary, Сhuvash Publ. House, 2005, 446 p.
47. Yagafova E.A. Prazdniki i obryady chuvashei na rubezhe XX – XXI veka [Holidays and rites of the Chuvashs at the turn of the XX – XXI centuries]. Samara, 2016, 179 p.
48. Yagafova E.A. Samarskie chuvashi: istoriko-etnograficheskie ocherki. Konets XVII – nachalo ХХ [Samara Chuvashs: historical and ethnographic essays. The end of the XVII – the beginning of the XX century]. Samara, 1998, 369 p.
49. Yagafova E.A. Chuvashi-musul’mane v XVIII – nachale XXI veka [Chuvash-muslims in the XVIII – early XXI centuries]. Samara, 2009, 128 p.
50. Yagafova E.A.Chuvashskoe «yazychestvo» v XVIII – nachale XXI veka [Chuvash «paganism» in the XVIII – early XXI centuries]. Samara, 2007,128 p.
51. Yagafova E.A., Ivanova A.I. Pokhoronno-pominal’nye obychai i obryady chuvashei Samarskogo Zavolzh’ya (basseina r. Sok): traditsii i sovremennost’ [Funeral and memorial customs and rites of the Chuvashs of the Samara Volga region (Sok river basin): traditions and modernity]. Traditsionnaya kul’tura, 2017, no. 2(66), pp. 45–56.
52. Yagafova E.A., Ivanova A.I. Pokhoronno-pominal’nye obychai i obryady chuvashei severo-vostoka Samarskogo Zavolzh’ya (verkhov’ya r. Bol’shoi Cheremshan): traditsii i sovremennost’ [Funeral and memorial customs and rites of the Chuvashs north-east of the Samara Volga region (upper reaches of the Bolshoi Cheremshan river): traditions and modernity]. In: Traditsionnaya kul’tura, 2019, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 79–90.
53. Yagafova E.A., Petrov I.G. Religioznye praktiki chuvashei: traditsii i ikh transformatsiya [Religious practices of the Chuvashs: traditions and their transformation]. Samara, 2023, 352 p.
54. Paasonen N. Gebräuche und Volksdichtung der Tschuwassen. Helsinki, Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, 1949, 381 p.
55. Passek T., Latynin B. Sur la question des «Kamennye baby». Les joba Tchuvaches In: Eurasia septentrionalis antiqua: Bulletin et mémoires consacrés à l’archéologie et l’ethnographie de l’Europe Orientale et de L’Asie du Nord. Helsingfors, 1929, iss. IV, pp. 290–311.

Information about the author

Igor G. Petrov – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior researcher, R.G. Kuzeev Institute for Ethnological Studies – Subdivision of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia, Ufa (ipetrov62@yandex.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8664-3004).

For citations

Petrov I.G. FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL RITES OF THE CHUVASH IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORKS OF THE XX – EARLY XXI CENTURY: TO THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PROBLEM. Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, 2024, no. 3, pp. 117–128. DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2024-3-117-128 (in Russian).

Download the full article