Surkhuri: new year holidays in traditional and modern rituals of the Chuvash

Abstract

Festive and ritual calendar of the Chuvash as agricultural and stock-raising people included rites and rituals, which ensured the success of production. Significant for the economic well-being of the Chuvash peasant was winter calendar, culminating in the New Year rites surkhuri / sēnē sul / nartukan. They have typological differences in genetic ethnographic and ethno-territorial groups in the form of implementation, content and terminology making three ceremonial complexes. Cultural and dialectal features are preserved in New Year rituals in Chuvash villages till present. Transformation of social life and family relations of the Chuvash in the XX-XXI centuries resulted in significant changes not only in the content and form of implementation, but also in understanding New Year rituals. In addition to authentic forms still observed in Chuvash villages reconstruction of ceremonies is practiced. Connection with the traditional forms is observed in ritual actions, attributes, and interpretation of the sacred meaning of the holiday. Surkhuri as a celebration of the Chuvash regional communities (since late 2000s) has lost characteristics of a sacred action, turning into a mass ethnic show. At the same time, its role as a factor of ethnic consolidation and ethnic identity of the Chuvash in an urban multicultural environment is obvious, due to the transformation of the Chuvash society in the context of globalization.