The General and Particular in the Perceptions of the Human Life Cycle in the Culture of the Middle Volga Region Peoples in the 19th Century

Abstract

The research subject of the article is the ideas that the peoples of the Middle Volga region had about the human life cycle in the 19th century - processes of birth, initiation, marriage and death. The aim of the article is to identify the general (typical) and particular (unique) in these perceptions as categories that unite and at the same time separate the inhabitants of the region. The general expresses the universal features inherent in all ethnic cultures of the Middle Volga region. The particular describe the local properties that act as markers of the identity of each ethnic group. The boundaries between the general and the particular in the Middle Volga region have a symbolic designation, since the region had for several centuries a complex synthesis of the interactions between Western, Russian and Eastern traditions. The article's research methods are based on the principle of historicism. The author uses structural and typological analysis to determine the general and particular in the Volga peoples' ideas about the life cycle, as well as the comparative-historical, logical and retrospective methods. The novelty of this study lies in the culturological comprehension of their ideas about the human life cycle in the regional culture, formed under the influence of paganism, Christianity and Islam. An important role in preserving the ethno-confessional values of the inhabitants of the Middle Volga region was played by the peasant community. The author concludes that the spread of Christianity and Islam in the region under the pressure of state power and as a result of intercultural interaction had made it possible to develop the universal requirements for human living. In this case, the particular was preserved at the level of individual rites. The source materials used in the article can be useful for scholars, culturologists, teachers, students and specialists developing programs in the field of preserving the cultural heritage of the region.