ON SPRING RITUALS IN THE UDMURT VILLAGE VARKLED-BODYA (WITH REGARD TO THE BILINGUAL MONOGRAPH BY E. TOULOUZE AND N. V. ANISIMOV)

Abstract

This article is devoted to a review of a recently published bilingual monograph by E. Toulouze and N. V Anisimov called “Spring rituals of the Varkled-Böd’ya Udmurt” dedicated to the description and analysis of the complex of spring rituals marking the beginning of the new year according to the Udmurt traditional calendar. The authors try to understand how and in what way the transformation processes are manifested in the modern Udmurt village community, which strives to preserve its identity during the period of unification and globalization. Based on the works of their predecessors and their own historical and ethnographic research, the authors update the data on the spring rituals of the Udmurts: the initiation of boys ( Eru/Eur karon ), the ritual of chasing unholy spirits ( Shaytan Ul’l’yan ), the initiation of girls ( Nyl kuras’kon ) and the ritual of the Vös’n’erge Clan Ceremony.