Ethnic Markers Research Articles

Маркеры этничности в песнях бурят о Чингис-хане

Introduction. The article analyzes legends and songs about Genghis Khan recorded in expeditions across Buryatia, Mongolia and China — to further compare them with related archival and published materials. Goals. The work aims at identifying distinctive features inherent to folklore texts dealing with Genghis Khan in different linguistic and ethnic environments. The issue of revival of ethnic consciousness actualizes insights into ethnic culture and its peculiarities. Methods. The paper is first to consider local versions of Buryat songs about Genghis Khan in a comparative aspect. Semantic contextual analysis proves instrumental in revealing ethnic markers. Results. The article discusses songs about Genghis Khan of both local and general Mongol significance. Songs about kinship with Genghis Khan and the ancestral homeland of Buryats — Nayan Nava — have a local and specifically tribal meaning being connected to the history of the Khori Buryats proper. Songs with a motif of chase contain parallels with plots of all-Mongol toponymic legends. The song titled ‘Two Steeds of Bogdo’ (Bur. Bogdyn hoyor zagal) and known among the Mongolic peoples dates back to the Mongolian medieval literature — The Tale of Two Steeds of Genghis Khan. The songs are examined in comparison with legends and The Secret History of the Mongols. Conclusion. Contextual analysis of songs about Genghis Khan along with legends and The Secret History reveals a hidden deep layer in the semantics of texts. The songs of Russia and Mongolia’s Buryats identify ancient roots of the motif of kinship with Genghis Khan that date back to the historical homeland. The Shinehen Buryats of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (China) have shown a perfect preservation of authentic materials in an isolated environment, while Mongolia’s Buryats experienced a transformation and song borrowings in the close ethnic culture. The paper also concludes there are virtually no such songs about Genghis Khan among modern Buryats of Russia. In general, the comparative analysis of Buryat songs about the legendary warlord proves those had been created in their historical homeland of present-day Russia to be further preserved both in the alien (China) and kindred (Mongolia) ethnocultural environments.

Ethnic markers and the emergence of group-specific norms: an experiment

Visible markers are an important factor in social interactions. Some researchers have argued that one of their roles is to promote cooperation, but models designed to address this issue have yielded contradictory results. Here we present an experimental study of the effect of visible markers on the emergence of social norms where human subjects play a binary coordination game. Our results do not show different, marker-dependent behaviors. Instead, in practically all sessions participants achieved a global equilibrium disregarding the markers. Our findings suggest that simple markers may have a limited role in promoting the emergence of group-dependent social norms and call for further research investigating the role of markers in more sophisticated social settings.

Ethnic Politics and Aesthetic Criticism: An Analysis of Social Media Discourses About Skhosana Buhlungu’s Music

ABSTRACT Drawing on theorisations of popular culture as a site of cultural hegemony and Bourdieu’s sociology of taste, this paper is an analysis of social media discourses about Skhosana Buhlungu’s song Dlala ntethe. Our main thesis is that the song became the locus of expression and contestations about ethnic identity. We demonstrate how the song, like all forms of popular culture, became implicated in the ideological battle for cultural hegemony in a highly ethnicised Zimbabwean society. The paper is based on purposively sampled Facebook and Twitter posts gathered via manual web crawling using the hashtags #Dlala ntethe and #Ntethe. A thematic analysis of the data reveals that aesthetic endorsement of the song became a marker of ethnicity. Findings demonstrate that taste for Dlala ntethe was subordinated to the logic of an essentialist Ndebele ethnic solidarity. Additionally, it emerged from the analysis that when it was expedient to do so, Ndebele identity was framed as a fluid cultural construct that is conferred or revoked depending on one’s disposition towards Dlala ntethe. Relatedly, debates about the aesthetic quality of Skhosana’s music reveal an ethnic double standard where similar musical offerings by Shona and South African musicians are not subjected to the same standard.

A Swedish Genome-Wide Haplotype Association Analysis Identifies a Novel Breast Cancer Susceptibility Locus in 8p21.2 and Characterizes Three Loci on Chromosomes 10, 11 and 16.

Simple SummaryHeritable rare high- and moderate-risk mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes are known of, alongside 170 common genetic low risk variants with a minor increase in risk. However, based on genetic studies, we know that over half of the breast cancer heritability is still unexplained. By analyzing combinations of chromosomal nearby variants, so-called haplotypes, and their association to breast cancer we could identify a novel genetic breast cancer risk locus on chromosome 8 and confirm three well known low risk loci on Chr 10, 11 and 16.(1) Background: The heritability of breast cancer is partly explained but much of the genetic contribution remains to be identified. Haplotypes are often used as markers of ethnicity as they are preserved through generations. We have previously demonstrated that haplotype analysis, in addition to standard SNP association studies, could give novel and more detailed information on genetic cancer susceptibility. (2) Methods: In order to examine the association of a SNP or a haplotype to breast cancer risk, we performed a genome wide haplotype association study, using sliding window analysis of window sizes 1–25 and 50 SNPs, in 3200 Swedish breast cancer cases and 5021 controls. (3) Results: We identified a novel breast cancer susceptibility locus in 8p21.1 (OR 2.08; p 3.92 × 10−8), confirmed three known loci in 10q26.13, 11q13.3, 16q12.1-2 and further identified novel subloci within these three loci. Altogether 76 risk SNPs, 3302 risk haplotypes of window size 2–25 and 113 risk haplotypes of window size 50 at p < 5 × 10−8 on chromosomes 8, 10, 11 and 16 were identified. In the known loci haplotype analysis reached an OR of 1.48 in overall breast cancer and in familial cases OR 1.68. (4) Conclusions: Analyzing haplotypes, rather than single variants, could detect novel susceptibility loci even in small study populations but the method requires a fairly homogenous study population.

Analytical Coding of In-Depth Interviews for Studying the Identities of Karelian and Pomor Women

Abstract. This article presents an example of in-depth interview analysis using software tools for analytical text coding. The study was based on a joint interview with a Karelian woman and a Pomor woman recorded during a 2021 summer expedition to Knyazhaya Guba Village (Murmansk Region, Russia). The villagers belonged to different ethnic groups, which have been in the area for a long time. It was of interest to study the self-identity of the Karelians and Pomors and the ethnic and cultural boundaries they draw. The article analyzes the constituent elements of the Karelian and Pomor identity highlighted by the informants, including ethnic markers, symbolic appropriation of the space, and perception of the surrounding landscape. We preliminarily conclude that the regional identity prevails. Regional identity in this sense is more of a figurative and emotional category, not only the administrative-unit affiliation. Both groups have adapted to the peculiar northern lifestyle, while preserving their distinctive markers – the language and place of birth for Karelians, and the value frame of reference among Pomors, which is associated with a focus on fishing and cooperative labor.&#x0D; Keywords: ethnicity, qualitative data analysis, analytical coding, Karelians, Pomors

Theoretical and methodological approaches to ethnic identity

The article discusses theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of “ethnic identity” as a key tool of scientific analysis in cultural anthropology and ethnology. The primordialist, instrumentalist and constructivist theories of ethnicity, which in different ways determine the role of the objective and subjective characteristics of its expression, are characterized. Primordialist view on ethnos as organic ethnic unit is based on “primordial” cultural differences (“givens”). Constructivists and instrumentalists have mainly focused on the social organization of ethnic differences and distinctions based on situational processes of inclusion and exclusion. From the standpoint of constructivism, ethnic identity is viewed as a symbolic construct – socially invented, discursively constructed and culturally marked. In the study of ethnic identity, an important role is played by the revealing of the specific distinctive features that separate one ethnic group or category from another. For this, it is necessary to use comparative ethnographic methods aimed at identifying “ethnic boundaries” and “ethnic markers”.

KITCHEN POTS OF THE 8TH-9TH CENTURIES IN THE PONTIC REGION AS AN ETHNIC MARKER (CONTINUATION OF THE DISCUSSION)

Kitchen pots are one of the most popular categories of ceramics on archaeological sites of the 8th-9th centuries in the Black Sea region. They are typical for the Saltovo-Mayaki archaeological culture. There is a point of view that such pots can be an ethnic marker of Bulgar and Khazar tribes. The article considers this hypothesis based on a detailed morphological analysis of the shapes of kitchen pots found in different sites and different areas of the Pontic region. The methodological basis of the research is the historical-and-cultural approach. This is a scientific direction developed by the famous Russian ceramic researcher A.A. Bobrinsky. The sources of the study were 525 vessels found on sites of various types in the Don basin: catacomb burial grounds, pit burial grounds, cremation burial grounds, as well as settlements associated with burial grounds of various types. The article highlights two traditions of creating pot shapes. These traditions are distinguishable at all levels of analysis used. Each of these traditions must be represented on the sites with different funeral rites. This leads to the conclusion that there is no clear connection between the different traditions of creating pots and different ethnic groups of the 8th-9th centuries. It can be explained by two reasons: craft production of the kitchen pots and the distribution of these pots among the multi-ethnic population through market mechanisms.

Roman Carthage – An Ethnic Conglomeration? A Study of the Anthroponymy of an African Metropolis

AbstractThis article discusses nearly 1,200 names of individuals appearing in inscriptions from Roman Carthage. The aim of the study is to answer the question whether there are indications in the anthroponymic tradition that may support the thesis of the multiculturalism of the city. The analyses focus primarily on the cognomen, which constitutes the most individualized element of the Roman naming system. Besides the unquestioned, dominating role of the nomenclature that was typical of the Roman cultural circle, local onomastics also revealed the relationships that existed between local traditions, which were mainly of Punic origins, as well as the influences of eastern migrations. An important point in the analysis of names with Punic and Greek provenance, and the Latin cognomina described as African, was to consider the abundance of their occurrence in each social group. Thus, names could be examined not only as a possible marker of ethnicity, but also as a marker of social affiliation, which is important especially in the context of cognomina graeca. In the last part of the article, the results are presented in a broader regional context, with the aim of presenting the specificity of the anthroponymy of Roman Carthage.

17th century costume of Shuya residents as a marker of Russian ethnicity

17th century costume of Shuya residents as a marker of Russian ethnicity

Fatek (Tattoo): An Ethnic Bontoc Marker in the Northern Philippines

The Bontok Igorots of Mountain Province, in the Cordillera Region, are one of the Philippine tribes that practiced traditional tattooing. The reasons and meanings of their tattoos could be better understood through the traditional context of Bontoc culture. To determine the cultural significance of tattoos to the Bontoks, the descriptive survey investigation was used to explore the tribe’s physical and socio-cultural practice of tattooing (fatek); discover the changes in the practice and perceptions of tattoo as well as its implication in the traditional and contemporary Bontoc society. The study’s primary informants included Bontoc elders with first-hand experiences and knowledge in the practice of traditional tattooing and young people with tattoos. The findings of the study showed that the traditional tattoo in traditional Bontoc society conveyed symbolic meanings, especially among the male members of the tribe. The chaklag is a symbol of status and at the same time a part of the rite of passage. On the other hand, women’s tattoos in Bontoc had no significant meaning but purely for decorative purposes and social acceptance. This study unfolds many unique and indigenous tattoo symbols which contribute to the development of local art. The changing attitudes and perceptions toward tattoos by the contemporary Bontoc community is a tug of war between the older and younger generation. The advancement of technology made tattooing more convenient thus, attracting many young people in Bontoc to have tattoos. Further, tattooing has become part of the health and beauty industry and many young professionals and teenagers are having positive attitudes and perceptions toward tattoos. Today, the impact of tattoos in the Bontoc society is closely felt in the loss of their cultural and symbolic meanings and thus ceased to be an ethnic marker for the Bontoc tribe. In the area of economy, it is beginning to draw clients from young professionals and teenagers. It has likewise become an established career and business causing the development of innovated creative art.

The Significance of SKABAPUTRA in the Socio-cultural Space of the Lithuanian-Latvian Borderland

The aim of the article is to investigate the significance of the traditional Latvian dish – skabaputra (Latvian skābputra – sour porridge made from barley groats and curdled milk) – in the socio-cultural space of the Lithuanian-Latvian borderland in various periods. The research is based on the empirical material collected by the author in several stages (between 2008 and 2019) in the municipalities of Lithuanian-Latvian borderland. The methods applied in this research were quantitative content analysis, case analysis, interpretative, and comparative methods.&#x0D; Skabaputra can be considered a traditional dish of the Lithuanian-Latvian border region, which was widely established here at the end of the 19th century and was an important part of the dietary culture of Lithuanian Latvians and border Lithuanians until the middle of the 20th century. The history of this dish is closely related to the ethnic and social processes that took place and are still taking place in the Lithuanian-Latvian borderland. Skabaputra came to this border area together with Latvian emigrants as well as with Lithuanians migrating on both sides of the border or Lithuanian re-emigrants from Latvia. The inclusion of this dish in the Lithuanian menu is related to the processes of acculturation and assimilation as well as to social processes – the accumulation of cultural capital in order to achieve a higher social status. At the end of the 19th century – in the middle of the 20th century, the skabaputra performed an important function of an ethnic marker. This dish did not correspond to the dietary habits of some Lithuanians and was used to create nicknames for Latvians. Other Lithuanians also considered skabaputra as a social marker, as for them, eating the dish meant an opportunity to change their status in the social hierarchy. During this period, skabaputra also performed the function of an ethnic link – it helped to consolidate part of the residents of the Lithuanian-Latvian borderland into a single community, and the dish also became a local marker, separating the residents of the border area from the residents of other areas of Lithuania. From the second half of the 20th century, we can record the decline of the skabaputra tradition, which coincided with the assimilation processes of the Latvian ethnic minority, leading to a decrease in the prestige of Latvian culture on the Lithuanian-Latvian border and in the importance of Latvian cultural attributes for social status. In the 2020s of the 21st century, we can observe the “rebirth” and “revival” of the skabaputra, which coincides with the regionalist movement and the construction of local identities taking place on the Lithuanian-Latvian border. Skabaputra becomes an important attribute that supports not only the ethnic identity of Lithuanian Latvians, but generally establishes the distinctiveness of all Lithuanian-Latvian borderland residents. Due to the development of the Lithuanian-Latvian borderland tourism industry, the modern skabaputra claims to once again become an important summer dish of the residents of the border region and an important local and regional marker.

Mari of Udmurtia: Factors of Preserving Traditional Culture in Modern Conditions

The factors of preservation and intergenerational transmission of the traditional culture of the local group of Mari living in the territory of Udmurtia in a different ethnic environment is examined in the article. The source basis of the article was the field ethnographic materials collected in 2007 among the Mari of the Karakulinsky region of the Udmurt Republic and introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The socio-economic situation of the respondents, the established mechanisms of adaptation to market relations, the preservation of traditional rituals and holidays, material and spiritual culture, the use of the native language, ethno-demographic processes, the activities of the Mari community to support ethnic culture are showed in the work. The author notes that the historically formed mechanism for ensuring the viability of the Mari society includes practices of demographic behavior, ethnic socialization of youth, reproduction of elements of spiritual and religious culture (prayers, family and calendar rituals, songs) and the material world (national costume, elements of architecture, musical instruments, national cuisine), the use of the Mari language. It has been proven that the ritual sphere of the Mari is undergoing transformations, but at the same time it continues to remain an inseparable part of the life of the people. In the course of the work, it was also revealed that the local group of Mari in modern conditions for self-preservation needs to constantly generate ethnic markers based on traditional culture. The key role in this is assigned to the village community, educational institutions and public organizations.

Identity as the Cause of Separatist Tendencies (on the Example of Ukraine)

The intensification of separatism in Ukraine in 2014 became possible due to profound changes in the worldview of a significant part of the population, which manifested in the changing of national self-identification. The purpose of the article is to clarify scientific ideas about the essence and relationship of separatism and identity on the example of Donbas. The article argues for the idea of the absence of an ethnic marker in the conflict in Donbass, where separatism is based on the specific regional identity, to which, through the efforts of Russian propaganda, the cultural, ideological, civilizational characteristics of the «Russian world» are added.

ИНДИГЕННЫЕ СООБЩЕСТВА И ГОРОДСКОЕ ПРОСТРАНСТВО СУРГУТА: ОПЫТ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЯ

The article presents the study of the interaction of indigenous society’s representatives and the urban space on the example of the city of Surgut, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District - Yugra. The purpose of the article is to determine the ways and practices of indigenous societies’ identity demonstration and ethnicity markers in the urban space. Methodological rationale is represented by the provisions of the hermeneutical approach as a practice of interpreting and constructing processes. The analyzed theoretical and empirical material allows a complex study of the research actors.

ETHNICITY AND VALUES

Cultures change in many ways but some basic values within the culture tend to remain over longer periods. Compared with some other potential markers of ethnicity, which may apply to only a certain part of an ethnic group, some traditional values are adhered to by most or perhaps even all members of the ethnic group. Over time, many core values of a culture remain relatively strong even though the manifestations of those values might gradually change. As such, certain cultural values can be regarded as stronger markers of ethnic or cultural identity than some other features of the culture which are more transient.

From the Serbian Fair to the Russian Museum: On the Ethnographic Relevance of the Gingerbread Collection from 1902

Serbian fi gured gingerbreads owned by the Russian Museum of Ethnography are described, the history of the collection is provided, and its cultural meaning is evaluated. Ethnographic parallels are analyzed, and archaic examples are cited. The custom of baking gingerbread results from the commercialization of the agricultural tradition of baking ritual bread. In terms of cultural anthropology, the question may be raised whether the replacement of destroyed originals by plaster replicas preserves the information potential and ethnographic value of the collection. Its interpretation is relevant to national identity in new Balkan nations such as Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. Another problem is if and how a craft shared by several peoples can be an ethnic marker. In terms of ethnographic museology in the globalizing world, the prospects of acquiring recent collections are discussed. The role of such collections in constructing new national identities may be considerable.

Ethnic Markers without Ethnic Conflict : Why do Interdependent Masikoro, Mikea, and Vezo of Madagascar Signal their Ethnic Differences?

People often signal their membership in groups through their clothes, hairstyle, posture, and dialect. Most existing evolutionary models argue that markers label group members so individuals can preferentially interact with those in their group. Here we ask why people mark ethnic differences when interethnic interaction is routine, necessary, and peaceful. We asked research participants from three ethnic groups in southwestern Madagascar to sort photos of unfamiliar people by ethnicity, and by with whom they would prefer or not prefer to cooperate, in a wage labor vignette. Results indicate that southwestern Malagasy reliably send and detect ethnic signals; they signal less in the marketplace, a primary site of interethnic coordination and cooperation; and they do not prefer co-ethnics as cooperation partners in novel circumstances. Results from a cultural knowledge survey and calculations of cultural FST suggest that these ethnic groups have relatively little cultural differentiation. We concur with Moya and Boyd (Human Nature 26:1-27, 2015) that ethnicity is unlikely to be a singular social phenomenon. The current functions of ethnic divisions and marking may be different from those at the moment of ethnogenesis. Group identities may persist without group conflict or differentiation.

The Limbu Script and the Production of Religious Books in Nepal

Abstract With the rise of ethnic politics in Nepal, the Limbu (or: Yakthumba) have made increasing use of the Limbu script, also known as Srijanga or Kiranti. Whereas in the past this script was suppressed by the state and known only to a minority, since the return of democracy to Nepal in the 1990s a new literature using this script has come into being. Here, religious books play a prominent role. This essay deals with the emerging importance of the script as a marker of ethnicity since its first general propagation by Iman Singh Chemjong and Phalgunanda Lingden in the early twentieth century. It focuses on the early production of printed books, in particular books published by followers of the Satyahangma movement, which promotes reforms of Kiranti religion and society.

Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East

Pigs are fascinating in that they transcend the “good to eat/good to think” dichotomy: More than any other domesticated meat animal, they remained a powerful, active symbol that retained its divisive socioreligious potency unto the twenty-first century. They are bound in intricate ways to human migrations, urban ecology, and informal economy, and they are a textbook case for the anthropological study of taboo.From a Levantine perspective, archaeological interest in pigs expanded in the late 1980s following the important contributions by Hesse (1986) and Lev-Tov (2000), which revealed the important economic and cultural role pigs had among the Philistines. These studies placed pigs in a nexus where Iron Age migrations, the ethnogenesis of ancient Israel, and zooarchaeology met, culminating in the suggestion that the absence of pig bones in archaeological sites can be used as an ethnic marker to mark the presence of early Israelites (Finkelstein 1996). With few exceptions (e.g., Redding 2015), the recent decades have seen only slow advancement in understanding the complex interactions of pigs and humans in the southern Levant. A reductionist concept of pigs as binary “ethnic markers,” however, persists among nonspecialists: It finds a place among other reifications of past social entities promoted in part by the archaeological application of recent breakthroughs in human genetics (Heyd 2017). The more exciting research front on pigs appears to have left anthropology behind: it has moved on to the study of domestication, spread, and hybridization of pigs using paleogenetic and morphometric methods, which are biological in essence.Against this background, Price's new book opens up a new vista on the anthropological study of pigs in the Near East, and it manages to do that, surprisingly, from the much-frequented viewpoint of the pig taboo. It is innovative in two important ways: First, in its temporal scope, ranging from the Pleistocene to our day; and second, in turning its back on reductionist general explanations and attributing a much greater role to contingency. As the title of the book suggests, the long-duration perspective adopted by the author views the taboo as a social fact in constant development. The taboo's lasting vitality is the accumulative outcome of Early Bronze Age urban ecology, informal economies, imagined pastoral pasts, Jewish diasporas and revolts, and choices of orthodoxy and orthopraxy among the founders of Christianity and Islam. No single-cause explanation is provided; the right sequence of contingencies, one dependent on the other, opens the evolution of the taboo like a combination lock. Things could have been otherwise, and a strong, persistent pig taboo does not emerge as an inevitable outcome of sociological, ecological, or other general laws.The scope and its emphasis on historical development necessitate the book's chronological arrangement into chapters covering Paleolithic hunters, early agriculturalists, Early Bronze Age urban centers, the Iron Age, classical periods, and Islamic to recent times. Additional chapters provide necessary background on pigs, geography, and previous work on the pig taboo. The omnivorous mixture of Near Eastern archaeology, archaeozoology, and general anthropology invites digressions to introduce domestication, population genetics, feasting, urbanization, and other staples of current scholarship. These asides are well written and instructive, and their concise summaries of otherwise broad topics are valuable in and of themselves.In summary, Max Price's book offers a fresh look at pigs in the ancient Near East, making an important contribution to the study of the much-discussed taboo. The broad perspective and nuanced view of the topic evades the pitfalls of simplistic explanations, yet the text is written in a simple and communicative manner. It is a laudable contribution that will be appreciated by a potentially broad audience of archaeologists, anthropologists, and others.

Ю.А. Сорокин: текст как саморазвивающаяся сущность

Sorokin’s ideas remain relevant in many areas of Psycholinguistics. The specificity of Sorokin’s concept of text understanding is determined by its deep connection with traditions of world Psychology and Linguistics on one hand, and attention to human activity’s specifics where a human being cannot be dissociated from being a part of culture and products of his/her activity (including speech activity), on the other hand. Examining the text as a self-developing entity, Sorokin considers “psychosemantic epistemology” to be the most effective methodology of a literary text’s analysis. It is based on the laws of perception and understanding of a text formulated by Nikolay A. Rubakin. Sorokin believes that a text is a form of substantiation of experience gained by a human being in all sorts of activities. Text as an aggregate of signs has potential content that is formed only in the course of the text’s interpretation. Sorokin studies a number of ethnopsycholinguistic issues, solutions to those issues enables inclusion of the following statements in the theoretical justification of understanding of a text: an individual as a representative of a certain ethnos appropriates ethnically specific ways and means of mastering the world and represents this experience in speech activity; the semiotic-behavioral side of the personality reveals its belonging to the culture of the ethnic group and is reflected in the structure and content of texts created by the individual; language units that possess cultural and symbolic meaning serve as markers of ethnicity. Sorokin considers it necessary to create special “non-analytical” methods of text analysis that would be adequate to its properties as a self-organizing system. First of all, it is the search for tools for measuring subjective assessments that reflect “axiological formats” of understanding or non-understanding of a text (e.g., method of semantic integral).