Monstrous animal siblings in Europe

Reports of women giving birth to a baby together with an animal (toad, mouse, bird, etc.), are documented in Europe from the 1100s onwards: the most important traditions of which are the frater Salernitanorum and the sooterkin. Throughout the centuries, authors have typically attempted to explain monstrous animal siblings in the light of contemporary medical knowledge. The present paper compares the medieval frater Salernitanorum with the later sooterkin and investigates both in historico-folklore terms. It argues that it is important to understand monstrous birth traditions not only in the light of medical history, but as beliefs and narratives actively shared through acts of communication. In so doing, this article is informed by both the history of medicine and folklore studies.

Areology of the Birth and Christening Tunes of the West of the Ukrainian Ethnic Territory and Adjacent Lands: the Perspective from Northern Pidlassia

The considerable progress of Ukrainian ethnomusicology in the field of structural and typological researches in the recent decades has generally clarified the melotypology and melogeography of the most ritual genre cycles of ethnic Ukraine and the adjacent areas, except the birth and christening songs. This is due to the small number or complete absence of recordings of this kind of songs in most regions of Ukraine. However, there are some areas where birth and christening songs exist in more than a few numbers and form a sufficiently integral melotypological complex. These areas are Northern Pidlassiaand Nadsyannia (the Syan river region). Generally, Western Ukraine is represented by a small number of records of birth and christening songs, but this nevertheless dominate over the rest of the territory, which is represented mainly by single samples. In the represented study, an attempt to fill the existing gap in the typological study of birth and christening songs of the western territories of Ukraine is made. The sources are published recordings, the author’s own materials, as well as materials from the Archive of the Laboratory of Music Ethnology at the Lviv National Music Academy named after Mykola Lysenko. Musical and folklore studies of birth and christening rites are not numerous. Among them it is necessary to mention a sizable monograph of Anatolyi Ivanytsky «Songs are from Birth and Christening» (Ivanytsky, 2013) and also collections of Halyna Sokil, Stephan Copa and others.Iryna Klymenko dedicated a special paragraph to this genre in the monograph «Ritual Melodies of the Ukrainians in the Context of the Slavic-Baltic Early-Traditional Melomassive: Typology and Geography» (2020). The comparative analysis of the total amount of the birth and christening tunes reveals a significant role in this genre cycle of the melotypological group on the basis of the spondeic seven-component structure, which is the most represented in the western Ukrainian and adjacent territories. The next melotypological group combines various forms based on the five component structure. Melodic type with a lyric structure V(5+5)2 has two rhythmic versions. Quite often, the same texts can be performed in different rhythmic variants. It has been observed that the tunes of the first rhythmic type are connected mainly with ritual lyrics. Instead, the second type combines mainly with common plots. A unique type based on a five-component structure, which has no analogues, is a three-part form V(5+5+5)2, which spreads on Nadsianna, less on Opillia territories. These melodies usually are combined with the same poetic lines «Early on Sunday, early on Sunday as a white day» rarely with some slight variants in the first line. Speaking of five-syllable structures we should mention songs with the so-called «arrow-like» rhythm. Although only a few fixations are known in Western Ukraine, the central and eastern territories of Ukraine and Belarus are represented more richly. Instead, the West part represents a kind of «hybrid» form based on this rhythmic structure. Perhaps the most widely used ritual melodic type in Eastern Europe with the verse structure V(5+5+7)2 and birth and christening function distribute on the territory of north-western Ukraine with a concentration on Nadsyannia. Another widespread ritual rhythmical form based on the iambic six-component structure is represented in tirade and strophic compositions, but the records of these songs, unfortunately, are rare. Summarizing the melotypological and meloareological characteristics of the birth and christening melodic types of the ethnic west of Ukraine, it should be noted that the two densest centers of their existence are Northern Pidlassiaand Nadsyannia. However, Northern Pidlassiais characterized by a richer melotypological set: six melotypes, while in Nadsyannia there are only three ones. In addition, the folk melodic types of these two areas actually differ. In general, the birth and christening genre cycle of Nadssiannia seems to be separated from the surrounding territories with its «unique» song «Early on Sunday», which partially spread to neighboring territories. Additionally, there is no any recorded sample based on the seven-component structure, as well as no samples of six-syllable melodies were encountered. The range of melotypes based on the five-component structure is the most numerous and most widespread in the territory of the ethnic west of Ukraine. A group of related seven-components melodic types is spread in the BelarusianUkrainian area. The melodic basis of the vast majority of the birth and christening songs is a system of stable tones at a distance of a fifth with a minor inclination of the scale.

Alagir Gorge of North Ossetia-Alania: in the footsteps of archaeologist E.G. Pchelina

E.G. Pchelina (1895-1972) belongs to the galaxy of outstanding scientists who laid the foundation of Soviet Caucasian studies. She had a multi-faceted talent as a researcher and left a bright mark in archeology, religious studies, ethnography, folklore studies of the Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia. Most of her works, including those ready for publication, were not published during the scientist’s lifetime. The archive, bequeathed by her to the Academy of Sciences and transferred to LOARAN in 1973 by her daughter-in-law, the highly respected M.L. Pchelina, remained inaccessible until 2019. But the results of her research, reflected in published works and available from Reports of archaeological expeditions and documents in the archives of scientific institutions of North and South Ossetia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, were known and highly appreciated by archaeologists, ethnographers, historians. References to the materials of her archaeological collections from the Hermitage and museums of North and South Ossetia are often found in the works of modern researchers of the Caucasus. The name of the talented scientist has not been forgotten all these years. However, only now, with the beginning of work on the study of its archival heritage, it became clear what a wide scope of scientific problems is reflected in the unpublished works of the scientist, what global themes of the history of Ossetia have been studied and reflected in the monographs and articles of Evgenia Georgievna. In 2019-2021, scientific events “Bee Readings” were held in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the problems of studying the archival heritage of E.G. Pchelina and timed to the 125th anniversary of her birth. Thanks to the long-term efforts of the staff of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the staff of the Hermitage, the Museum of Ethnography of St. Petersburg, the staff of SOIGSI, the grandchildren of Evgenia Georgievna, Nikolai and Mikhail Pchelin, as well as many people who are not indifferent to the fate and discoveries of Evgenia Georgievna, work with the archive is currently being successfully conducted and gradually reveals the great importance of the research conducted by Evgenia Georgievna in the Caucasus, which will now undoubtedly be known to a wide range of researchers.

When Students Do Not Aspire To Become Professional Anthropologists

Studies in anthropology have been influential in Greece in the recent decades. Anthropological concepts and analysis have prompted a critical assessment of Greek culture and brought this academic discipline close to history and folklore studies. Furthermore, today in Greek universities one finds several courses that teach this subject, plus some whose approaches are influenced by ethnography and the anthropological perspective. Given that only a small percentage of the students learning anthropology in Greek universities will eventually become professional anthropologists, my teaching experience leads me to the position that their acquaintance with anthropology should include a correlation of knowledge received during their studies to aspects of their daily life. Consequently, this article examines how teaching may encourage a fragmentary use of ethnography and a strong reflexive attitude from the students’ side, leading the latter to the exploration and evaluation, in a heuristic way, of their personal worldview and ethos.

Kaugõppe kujutamine COVID-19 pandeemia esimese laine meemides: huumor kui toimetulekuviis ja enesekaitsestrateegia

Restrictions and special measures were imposed around the world to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, one of the most important of which was certainly the reorganization of learning and work as a home-based activity. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Estonia remained closed from 16 March 2020 until the end of the schoolyear; further periods of countrywide distance learning were imposed also throughout the 2020/2021 schoolyear. The new way of life that accompanied the special situation was also reflected in widespread folklore, including internet memes. Defining memes as “(post)modern folklore” that expresses and shapes shared norms and values within communities, my article analyses the depiction of distance learning in Estonian memes, highlighting different points of view: the position of the students, the teachers, and the parents. The source data comes from the meme collection of the research archive of the Department of Folkloristics of the Estonian Literary Museum, which consists of more than 2,000 meme units collected during the crisis period. Some data were collected separately, for example, Tartu Variku School organized a meme competition “My distance learning” for the students of Tartu schools in April 2020 (541 memes). The comparative global collection (12,000 units) comes from the international project of corona folklore and -humour research “Humour during the global corona crisis” led by Giselinde Kuipers (Leuven Catholic University) and Mark Boukes (Amsterdam University); the project involves researchers from more than 30 countries. The study addresses the following questions: What local features emerge in distance learning memes that spread during the pandemic? How have students used other cultural resources in these memes (e.g. pop culture elements known from literature, cinema, music and other important cultural texts)? Whether and how these memes express, for example, family relationships (between children/youngsters and parents), school relationships (between students and teachers), what patterns of distance working are prevalent, etc. The meme material which has been inspired by distance learning is a fascinating contemporary subject that combines the challenging COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning as a characteristic feature of this period. Students who are the main creators of the memes regard the humorous memes about distance learning as a form of communication which offers an alternative and multifaceted perspective on this important method of learning during lockdown. The Estonian material is largely based on internationally known universal meme templates that have been adapted to the local language and cultural space. When investigating the social networks and universal motifs reflected in the memes, it is important to rely on the qualitative content analysis. It is worth noting that the subject of COVID-19 and the pandemic period are rarely explicitly mentioned in the memes. The egocentric or student-centred perspective that is characteristic of this specific material highlights the general attitudes and shared patterns that are based on opposition, which is typical of youth culture. The common pairs of opposition are me/classmates, student/teacher, and student/parent. The stereotypical roles reflected in the memes can be analysed figuratively via the ambivalent trickster figure, known from earlier folklore studies. Students are shown as cunning go-getters who use memes to discuss uncomfortable issues, mishaps, and problems. Stereotypically, the image of a teacher, but also that of a parent, is that of an authoritarian supervisor, a grade giver from the students’ perspective. This makes memes a highly important channel for schoolchildren to make their voice heard, either consciously or subconsciously. In the future, the material could be investigated in even greater detail from the aspect of youth language use and emotions, the interdisciplinary aspect, etc.

Introduction

This edition of the Yearbook of Balkan and Baltic Studies focuses on discussion and ongoing research presented to an academic community of scholars in Balkan and Baltic Studies at a conference held on 9-11 June 2020 in Riga, Latvia, organized by the International Society of Balkan and Baltic Studies. This annual conference was hosted by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Latvia and was jointly supported by the Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian Academies of Sciences, the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies; the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum, the Estonian Literary Museum and the Lithuanian Institute of History. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held over Zoom. In spite of the physical distance that had to be maintained, however, academic discussions were vibrant and fruitful, resulting in this joint edition of the Yearbook. Scholars from various countries and academic schools presented their research on spirituality, religion, identity and culture in the Baltic and Balkan regions and analysed the dynamics of religious and national transformations. The conference also examined the impact of globalization on religious communities and spiritual processes, and touched on aspects of social and cultural transformations in the modern era and their challenges. This necessitated a focus on migration, transnationalism, secularization and the search for the new spiritual means and models. Our academic community also analysed developments regarding the place of belonging and transformations of the historical memories of religious communities in the Baltic and Balkan regions.

At the origin of Folklore studies in Karelia: G.S. Epiphanov and his time

В статье рассматривается возникновение фольклористики в Олонецкой губернии (Карелии) во второй четверти XIX в. Первыми фольклористами были ссыльные поэт-декабрист Ф.Н. Глинка и друг М.Ю. Лермонтова С.А. Раевский, а также выпускник местной гимназии В.А. Дашков и учитель Г.С. Епифанов. Особое внимание уделено анализу публикации Г.С. Епифанова «Заметки об Олонецкой стороне», испытавшей влияние сочинений Н.В. Гоголя и В. Скотта. Сделан вывод, что в отличие от работ других фольклористов, написанных в русле казенного патриотизма, эта статья Г.С. Епифанова отражала более независимую и отчасти оппозиционную позицию автора, из-за чего сам он подвергся гонениям властей. The article reveals the origins of Folklore studies in Olonets province (Karelia) in the second half of the 19thcentury. First folklorists were an exiled poet and Decembrist Fyodor Glinka and Lermontov’s friend Svyatoslav Raevsky, also a local gymnasiumstudent Vasiliy Dashkov and a schoolteacher Grigory Epiphanov. The greatest attention is paid to the analysisof a publication by G. Epiphanov, «Notes about Olonets side», which influenced by the writings by Nikolay Gogol and Walter Scott. It is concluded that in the contrast to the works of other folklorists, written in the spirit of official patriotism, this G. Epiphanov’s article reflects a more independent and partly opposition author’s view, because of what he was persecuted by the authorities.

Other space in the Yakut heroic epic poetry (based on Olonkho of Vilyuysky tradition)

The subject of this research is the semantics, structure and plotline of other space in the Yakut heroic epic poetry. The object is the texts of the Yakut heroic epic poetry, namely Olonkho of Vilyuysky tradition. The goal lies in comprehensive analysis of the category of other space in the Yakut heroic epic poetry, particularly Olonkho of Vilyuysky tradition. The article employs the systemic analysis of Olonkho poetics, structural-semantic analysis, and comparative method. Special attention is given to construction of mythopoetic model of the world and correlation between space and plot of the epic poem. The acquired results can be implemented in folklore studies. The novelty of this research consists in the analysis of other space in Olonkho from the perspective of its semantics, structure, and narrative role. This article is first to describe the peculiarities of other space in the texts of Vilyuysky epic tradition. It is determined that other space in the Yakut heroic epic poetry Olonkho is depicted in form of the Lower and Upper worlds, “foreign country” in the Middle world, intermediate zones that hold an important place within the epic worldview and course of events in the plot of Olonkho. The author notes that the texts of Vilyuysky Olonkho preserve the traditional techniques depicting the three worlds; and the difference lies in emergence of the image of shaman dwelling in the intermediate zone, prevalence of the entry into the Lower world without demarcation of its boundaries.

UKRAINIAN LINGUO-FOLKLORE STUDIES: THEIR HISTORY, CURRENT STATE, AND PERSPECTIVES

The article is devoted to the evolution, present state and perspectives of development of the Ukrainian linguo-folklore studies that are conducted by Sv. Yеrmolenko, N. Zhuravliova, A. Moisiienko, T. Betsenko, Y. Diadyshcheva-Rosovetska, N. Kolesnyk, R. Serdeha and others. The main aspects of the analysis of the language of the Ukrainian folk poetic texts of the period from the end of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century were considered. They are historical linguistic, linguo-stylistic, linguo-didactic, linguo-cultural, ethnolinguistic, linguo-conceptual, linguo-semiotic. Two stages in the development of linguo-folklore studies were distinguished: 1) 60s — 80s of the 20th c., and 2) 90s of the 20th c. — the early 21st c. It was pointed out that the Ukrainian linguo-folklore studies had already evolved into a separate branch of philology and an educational course with its own object (a linguostructural, artistic-figurative organization of folkloristic texts of various genres, peculiar features of a folkloristic style formation), and subject of research, tasks and trends. There were mentioned the present day approaches to the analysis of folk poetic texts, being based on the language layers (folklore stylistics of language units), language expressive means (folklore stylistics of language expressive means), genres (folklore stylistics of genres) and separate parts of linguistics. The following perspectives of the linguo-folklore studies were defined: the analysis of understudied language units and figurative means, used in the texts of various genres (not only the traditional but new ones as well), development of a folklore lexicography, folklore dialectology, folklore linguo-cognitology, folklore linguosemiotics, folklore communication, linguo-genderology, contrastive linguo-folklore studies, and other trends, as well as a wider application of modern systems of an automatic analysis of texts, dictionaries’ compilation, and data creation.