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FUNCTIONS OF MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTER IN PRESENT-DAY HOUSEHOLD CEREMONY // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 1 (23). P. 105-112

Among many household ceremonies of the Western Buryats so called cult of Mongol is of special interest. The mysterious image of mythological character of “Mongol” was researched by many ethnographers, so in this paper ethnographic and folkloristic analysis of the cult of Mongol is mostly based on present-day field materials of the author. It is important to make the cross-disciplinary research of the folklore text in the ethnocultural context connected to realities of time. It generates new paradigmatic questioning. Analysis along the historical / mythological coordinates reveals the prototype of the Mongols, formerly inhabiting this area. From the mythological point of view, the study considers the spirit of character of “Mongol” living in the courtyard or in the house, in the forest nearby. Some ethnic groups of the Buryats have the cult of the Mongol as spirit of the owner of the area. The unknown mythological spirit “Mongol” can resemble the spirit owner of the yard; also possible are other local embodiments with identical function of the protector. As a result of the analysis of one private ceremony, the author comes to the conclusion that in present-day ritual events, the reality often exaggerates the subtext containing more ancient mythological history, and replaces it with the new meaning. The mythological character with initial harmful function by means of ceremonies of worship turns into protecting spirit. In some local traditions over time its function of the owner of the area was narrowed and transformed to the protector of the cattle and a farmstead. In other local traditions it extended to the heavenly deity.

Keywords: cult, mongol, history, myth, tradition, etymology, symbol

METAMORPHOSES OF MYTHOLOGICAL PERSONAGES IN THE RITUAL ACTIONS OF THE TURKIC-MONGOLIAN PEOPLES // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 2 (24). P. 179-189

The study compares for the first time the mythological images of characters in shaman ceremonial materials of the Turk-Mongolian people. The aspect of areal interethnic research is relevant for revealing the boundaries of distribution and genesis of important facts in a cult ceremony of the Turk-Mongolian people. The main method of a research is the comparative analysis of characters’ metamorphosis in the Mongolian, Buryat, Tuva and Yakut shaman ceremonies. The aim of the study is to explore of system of features of spirit transformations in the Turk-Mongolian mythology, revealing the similar features and motives in the metamorphosis of characters in a ceremonial event. As a result of the study, the authors define the semiotics status of characters, the universal facts of identical or similar characters in the Turk-Mongolian tradition. It is possible to trace the general schemes of metamorphosis of characters, the repetition and variations of dominant characters in ceremonial actions in the Turk-Mongolian mythology.

Keywords: ceremony, spirit of the shaman, anthropomorphous character, zoomorphic character, myth, tradition, motive, symbol

THEONYM 'KHAIRKHAN' IN TURKIC-MONGLOLIAN MYTHOLOGY // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2020. Issue 2 (28). P. 118-126

In Turkic-Mongolian mythology the most common appealing to the deity during ceremonial actions (veneration of celestial beings, spirits of ancestors, spirits of mountains and fire) is the word khairkhan / kairakan. The article is devoted to the meanings of this word in Turkic and Mongolian rite acts, revealing of their differences depending on traditions, rite action, language features in the diachronic aspect. The analysis of the theonym khayrkhan / kairakan of Mongolian peoples in comparison with Siberian Turks of the Sayan-Altay area from the point of view of preservation and transformation of the code word in the rite tradition seems relevant. The author aims to identify from a semiotic point of view the meaning of the theohym khairkhan, and its connotations, fixed in tradition. The etymology of the word khairkhan in the Mongolian and Turkic languages of the Sayan-Altay area has been considered. The mythological semantics of this word have been studied on material of the rite texts of Mongolian and Turkic peoples. The main denotations, such as the supreme deity, the guardian spirit (spirits of mountains, fire, ongon-spirits), and totem (bear, snake) were revealed. Depending on the cultural experience of the people, the denotation of theonym changes in different language environments, rite tradition and time continuum. It is assumed that strict observance of ritual, prescribed behavior, transmission of formula expressions without changes contributed to preservation of this word as a key word in the memory of the collective. Its mythological background with ancient sacred roots sounds as echo in ritual action. It is established that khairkhan / kairakan is one of the oldest symbols of the deity in the Turk- Mongolian tradition. If one considers the theonym without going beyond the sustainable cultural context, in Turk-Mongolian mythology it is used in its basic denotative meaning as giving mercy. The author concludes that theonym khairkhan / kayrakan, while maintaining its archetypal mythological meaning, is a steady code word in the Turk-Mongolian rite tradition.

Keywords: tradition, mythology, ceremony, worship, deity, spirit, fire, mountain

CULTURAL UNIVERSALS IN THE RITUAL TRADITION OF THE TURKIC-MONGOLIAN PEOPLES: VOCABULARY AND CONTEXT // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2021. Issue 2 (32). P. 114-123

The authors consider the vocabulary of Siberian Turkic and Mongolian languages, related to the cult of mountains, land and water in a semantic context with the ritual action. The main languages of the study are Altai, Buryat and Yakut with the involvement of Mongolian, Khakas, and Tuvan parallels. In rites of Turkic-Mongolian people devoted to the host spirits of the area, the general principles of the organization of the sacred space, conceptually similar ritual actions are traced. There are universal attributes and symbols which are illustratory of shamanism and Buddhism. For the first time, a comparative analysis of lexemes, semantics and symbolism of words related to ritual actions and accompanying their verbal context was carried out. The purpose of the work is identifying the preservation, dissemination and transformation of cultural universals with verbal expression. A study of the oldest cultural codes preserved in the subject and actional spheres of rite seems relevant. The concept of a cultural code in the study of rite will provide a key to understanding the cultural picture of the world and allows deciphering the deep meaning of the components of the rite (meanings, signs, symbols, norms, etc.). As a result, we state that there was once a united Turkic-Mongolian tradition of shamanism, which had a common culturally significant system. It is confirmed by lexical material and their ritual context. The considered two main rituals of sacrifice (bloody and bloodless) prove both ancient ties and a stable universal sequence and the preservation of national codes in the ritual event of the Mongolian and Turkic peoples of Siberia. It is revealed that the key lexemes used in the subject code have a universal semantics in the ritual event. Lexical correspondences and similar ritual objects and actions most likely prove the ascension of the rite to single roots with subsequent regional and temporary transformations. It was established that the same attributes of the ritual with a similar or different lexical designation are archetypes reflecting the general cultural codes of the Turkic peoples of Siberia and Mongolian ethnic groups.

Keywords: Turkic-Mongolian people, cultural universals, cultural code, historical vocabulary, rite

COMBINING FUNCTIONS OF SHAMAN AND STORYTELLER IN THE ORAL TRADITION OF PEOPLES OF SIBERIA // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2022. Issue 2 (36). P. 118-126

In Russian ethnography and folklore studies, the question of combining the functions of a shaman and a rhapsode in a comparative aspect at the interethnic level is one of the topical and poorly studied problems. The purpose of the work is to identify mythological, functional and genetic connections between shamans and rhapsodes. In the course of the study, for the first time in Russian science, through a comparative analysis for identifying the universal functions of shamans and storytellers in the tradition of peoples of Siberia, a unified archetype of the syncretic image of a bard was revealed. It has been established that the picture of the world in epic texts among the peoples of Siberia is built according to the traditional shamanic mythological version. For the first time, using specific examples, a comparison is made between epic and shamanic texts recorded both from a rhapsode performing the functions of a shaman and a shaman performing an epic text. The general functions of the shaman and the rhapsode as the heaven’s chosen one, the prophet and the soothsayer, possessing a gift from above, an inspiration, are revealed. The universal motives of the divine gift, involuntary actions, punishability, deprivation are defined. As a result of the study, we come to the conclusion that the functions of the shaman and the rhapsode in the Buryat, Yakut and Tuvan traditions have typological similarities. The ancient functions of a shaman and a rhapsode separated with the development of the oral tradition, but in subsequent generations they could be simultaneously performed mainly by those who have shamanic roots. The Buryats retained the combination of the functions of a shaman and a rhapsode as long as the storytelling tradition was alive. In the Khakass traditions, the functions of the shaman and the rhapsode have completely diverged over time, but our research reveals the rudiments of ancient syncretism.

Keywords: epos, rite, text, mythology, ethnos, cultural universals, syncretism

The Peculiarities of the Existence of Ethnic Traditions in the Legends of the Russians and Buryats about Barguts // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2024. Issue 3 (45). P. 73-80

The article is devoted to the analysis of the structure of Russian and Buryat legends about the Barguts, which belong to the microlocal tradition (Barguzinsky district of the Republic of Buryatia). Comparative studies of the legends created by Russian settlers when settling in new territories compared to the legends of the indigenous peoples are considered important. The work aims to determine the peculiarities of the local tradition of the Buryats and Russians in the legends of the Barguts and the peculiarities of the reflection of ethnocultural features in the conditions of territorial interethnic contacts. The imagological method of analysis will make it possible to trace the process of formation of the image of the stranger (the Bargut) in the Russian tradition in comparison with the Buryat view of this image, and the hermeneutic method of interpretation of the narratives is also required. The legends tell of the Barguts, one of the Mongolian tribes that once inhabited this region. The sources of the study are archival records of Russian legends and field materials of the author of the work. In legends with a similar plot, the reason for the exodus of the Indigenous people of the region is a single motif, namely the appearance of a white birch tree in a coniferous forest, characterized by the opposition’ friend – foe’ by the color code ‘white – black’, the phytocode ‘birch – coniferous’. As part of the study, the structural characteristics of the legends about the Barguts in various ethnic traditions were determined. A variable transformation of the invariant of the exodus motif of the Barguts in the Russian tradition, which is connected with the legends of the Chudes, is revealed: they go away, bury themselves, dig themselves into pits, throw themselves off cliffs, drown themselves in rivers. The motif of the suicide of foreign, hostile people is the most important structural factor in the construction of Russian legends. In the Buryat legends, the stable motif of departure, and not mythological suicide, is connected with the historical events of the exodus of the Barguts, a closely related tribe, and their contemporaries. The most important conclusion is the identification of the phenomenon of folkloric local narrative, in which the content of ethnic and/or historical memory, transformation, and adaptation to a foreign cultural stereotype is manifested. Under the conditions of the cultural border, the ‘foreign’, which acquires an ambiguous meaning, almost becomes the ‘own.’

Keywords: Russians, Buryats, ethnoculture, border areas, local traditions, motif invariant, motif variants, Сhude, exodus