Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris

The Cheptsa River has played a significant economic and social role in the history and culture of the Northern Udmurts since the ancient times. There were hunting grounds, pastures and hayfields on the river’s floodplain. The river is a source of drinking and technical (industrial) water, as well as...

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Main Author: Nadezhda Shutova
Format: Article
Language:Estonian
Published: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum 2024-12-01
Series:Mäetagused
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.folklore.ee/tagused/nr90/shutova.pdf
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author Nadezhda Shutova
author_facet Nadezhda Shutova
author_sort Nadezhda Shutova
collection DOAJ
description The Cheptsa River has played a significant economic and social role in the history and culture of the Northern Udmurts since the ancient times. There were hunting grounds, pastures and hayfields on the river’s floodplain. The river is a source of drinking and technical (industrial) water, as well as protein products. It serves as a means of a cultural, political and commercial communication. The river is an important mythological symbol, and also an element of sacred topography. The purpose of the paper is to define the role and significance of the Cheptsa River in the traditional religious and mythological worldview of the Udmurts. The research materials include the author’s field data from the late 20th – early 21st centuries, archaeological, folklore and ethnographic literature of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, and the late 20th – early 21st centuries. For the first time, the role of the Cheptsa River in the formation of the ethno-territorial community of the Northern Udmurts is analysed. It is revealed that the river valley is understood and perceived as a common ethnic, family and tribal territory. It is shown that the Cheptsa River performs not only economic and cultural, but also metaphysical, irrational functions in the life of the Northern Udmurts. The semantics of the Cheptsa River is characterized as a symbol of the homeland, a road in real and mythological dimensions, a border between worlds, a means of getting rid of diseases, as a sacred value of local Udmurts. General cultural (stadial-typological) and original (specific) features in the veneration of the river are revealed. Peculiarities of the Northern Udmurts’ worldview are the ideas about the creatures of the aqutic world, the presence of a whole system of rituals and special places associated with the cult of the owners of the water element. It is argued that the anthropomorphic image of the water sphere masters occupied a more significant position in the Udmurt beliefs. Archaic female personifications of these river spirits and other images of water creatures have faded into the background. The author concludes that the Cheptsa River was an important economic, landscape, cultural and mythological object for the Northern Udmurts of the late 19th – early 20th centuries.
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spelling doaj-art-84ff5044ccb7420cb81cf905ee0cdb622025-01-09T13:20:33ZestEesti KirjandusmuuseumMäetagused1406-992X1406-99382024-12-0190153610.7592/MT2024.90.shutovaTšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuurisNadezhda Shutova0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6288-8573Udmurt Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Udmurt Federal Research Centre, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhevsk, RussiaThe Cheptsa River has played a significant economic and social role in the history and culture of the Northern Udmurts since the ancient times. There were hunting grounds, pastures and hayfields on the river’s floodplain. The river is a source of drinking and technical (industrial) water, as well as protein products. It serves as a means of a cultural, political and commercial communication. The river is an important mythological symbol, and also an element of sacred topography. The purpose of the paper is to define the role and significance of the Cheptsa River in the traditional religious and mythological worldview of the Udmurts. The research materials include the author’s field data from the late 20th – early 21st centuries, archaeological, folklore and ethnographic literature of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, and the late 20th – early 21st centuries. For the first time, the role of the Cheptsa River in the formation of the ethno-territorial community of the Northern Udmurts is analysed. It is revealed that the river valley is understood and perceived as a common ethnic, family and tribal territory. It is shown that the Cheptsa River performs not only economic and cultural, but also metaphysical, irrational functions in the life of the Northern Udmurts. The semantics of the Cheptsa River is characterized as a symbol of the homeland, a road in real and mythological dimensions, a border between worlds, a means of getting rid of diseases, as a sacred value of local Udmurts. General cultural (stadial-typological) and original (specific) features in the veneration of the river are revealed. Peculiarities of the Northern Udmurts’ worldview are the ideas about the creatures of the aqutic world, the presence of a whole system of rituals and special places associated with the cult of the owners of the water element. It is argued that the anthropomorphic image of the water sphere masters occupied a more significant position in the Udmurt beliefs. Archaic female personifications of these river spirits and other images of water creatures have faded into the background. The author concludes that the Cheptsa River was an important economic, landscape, cultural and mythological object for the Northern Udmurts of the late 19th – early 20th centuries.https://www.folklore.ee/tagused/nr90/shutova.pdfnorthern udmurtscheptsa rivertraditional beliefsritualsmasters of watersemantics
spellingShingle Nadezhda Shutova
Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
Mäetagused
northern udmurts
cheptsa river
traditional beliefs
rituals
masters of water
semantics
title Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
title_full Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
title_fullStr Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
title_full_unstemmed Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
title_short Tšeptsa jõgi põhjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
title_sort tseptsa jogi pohjaudmurtide rahvakultuuris
topic northern udmurts
cheptsa river
traditional beliefs
rituals
masters of water
semantics
url https://www.folklore.ee/tagused/nr90/shutova.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT nadezhdashutova tseptsajogipohjaudmurtiderahvakultuuris