On the South Caspian Contact Zone: Some Talishi Folk Beliefs

Abstract

One of the productive approaches to the analysis of the phenomenon of frontier zones, and the South Caspian region in particular, could be the delimitation of local cultural areas— not within administrative borders, but rather by frontier lines defined by such parameters as linguistic and toponymic areas, characteristics of the people’s mentality, specifics of local beliefs, etc. The southern and south-western shores of the Caspian Sea can be defined as a unique cultural landscape, a picturesque world “existing on the frontier lines”. On the marginal level—in folk beliefs, religious lore, etc.—the steadfast local substrate transformed Islam into shapes extraneous to the religious dogma. The South Caspian population, despite the domination of traditional forms of Islam, has preserved multiple elements dating back to the pre-Islamic cultural heritage. The article discusses some peculiarities of folk beliefs of the Talishis, one of the autochthonous peoples of the area. An essential part of the paper includes attempts of revealing the pre-Islamic background of some characters and phenomena, modified and reinterpreted by Muslim thinking or through folk etymologies.