«Смерть ближе рубашки»: похоронная обрядность старообрядцев-часовенных

Elena S. Danilko

doi:10.25178/nit.2019.1.4

Authors

Elena S. Danilko N. N. Mikluho-Maсlay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2019.1.4

Keywords:

Old Belief; Chasovenny creed; funeral and memorial ritualism; group boundaries; Tuva; Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan

Abstract

The article analyzes the funeral and memorial complex of contemporary Old Believers of the Chasovennye (‘chapel-going’) type, living in Tuva (Russia); in Nukus, Turtkul and nearby settlements (Republic of Karakalpakia, Uzbekistan); and in Taraz and the village of Rybzavod (Zhambyl region, Kazakhstan). The article is based on the author's field materials collected during the 2014-2016 expeditions to Central Asia and the 2018, to Tuva. Also provided are some excerpts from interviews with the informants.

The Chasovennye try to confess and commune the dying person in time, using the Great agiasma (Holy water of the Epiphany). Near the body of the deceased, they light hand-made candles of beeswax, the production whereof is controlled by clergymen. In dressing the body, it is preferable to use homespun fabric made of natural materials. In most of the communities studied, the dead may be buried in regular clothes, but always unworn. Tuvan Old Believers have a more austere and archaic outfit in which sarafan and pants are not included. The shroud is a necessary distinctive feature of Old Belief funeral. The baptismal cross of the deceased must also be new. None of the burial clothes can use knots. A tradition to swaddle the deceased has also been observed. Ablution is a rather symbolic procedure. The body is placed on a bench in the ‘red corner’, first with its head to the icons, then facing them, when it is transferred to the coffin.

The Tuvan Chasovennye still bury their deceased in the coffins carved from a solid tree trunk, which are called “domovina”. The Uraltsy (Chasovennye living in Central Asia) may use coffins made of planks, but an indicator of their greater or lesser "correctness" is how parts of the coffin are joined together "with wooden spikes", that is, without nails. As a rule, the grave is dug right before the funeral. In the article, we also examine the issues on Old Believer’s internal preparedness to death – an event defining the person’s life and the nature of the farewell ceremony.

Ritual practices, an organization of the cemetery space, artifacts and symbols – all of these are considered important markers for the Old Believer communities, indicating the current group boundary, which differentiates and integrates it at the same time. With the inevitability of contacts with the surrounding population, the Old Believers try to protect their ritual sphere and related objects from external influence.

References

Ageeva, E. A. and Danilko, E. S. (2016) Kazaki-ural'tsy — etnolokal'naia gruppa russkikh v Srednej Azii i Kazakhstane (materialy polevyh issledovanii) [Ural cossacks, an local ethnic group of Russians in Central Asia and Kazakhstan: Materials of field research]. Issledovaniia po prikladnoi i neotlozhnoi etnologii [Research in applied and urgent ethnology], vol. 249, Moscow, IEA RAS. 32 p. (In Russ.).

Argudiaeva, Yu. V. (2000) Staroobriadchestvo na Dal'nem Vostoke Rossii [Old Belief in the Far East of Russia]. Moscow, IEA RAS. 365 p. (In Russ.).

Bajburin, A. K. (1993) Ritual v traditsionnoi kul'ture. Struktur-no-semanticheskij analiz vostochnoslavianskih obriadov [Ritual in traditional culture. A structural and semantic analysis of East Slavic ceremonies]. St. Petersburg, Nauka. 240 p. (In Russ.).

Bart, F. (2006) Vvedenie [Introduction]. In: Etnicheskie gruppy i sotsial'nye granicy. Sotsial'naia organizatsiia kul'turnykh razlichii [Ethnic groups and social borders. Social organization of cultural distinctions]. A collection of articles / ed. by F. Bart, trans. from English I. Pilshchikov. Moscow, Novoe izdatel'stvo. 200 p. Pp. 9–49. (In Russ.).

Danilko, E. S. (2016) Staroobriadcy-ural'tsy v Srednei Azii i Kazakhstane: vzaimootnoshenia s sosediami i sotsial'no-kul'turnaia adaptatsia [Ural Old Believers in Central Asia and Kazakhstan: relationship with neighbors and sociocultural adaptation]. Vestnik of anthropology, no. 4, pp. 22–38. (In Russ.).

Ermolin, D. (2015) Granitsy konfessional'nogo, etnicheskogo i regio-nal'nogo v pogrebal'nom obriade albantsev [Borders between the confessional, the ethnic and the regional in Albanian funeral ceremony]. Arheologiia russkoi smerti, no. 1, pp. 100–120. (In Russ.).

Pokrovskii, N. N. and Zol'nikova, N. D. (2002) Starovery — chasovennye na vostoke Rossii v XVIII — XX vv. [Chasovennye (‘chapel-going’) Old Believers in the east of Russia in the 18th - 20th centuries]. Moscow, Pamiatniki istoricheskoi mysli. 471 p. (In Russ.).

Pyliaev, M. I. (1990) Staroe zhit'e. Ocherki i rasskazy o byvshikh v otshedshee vremia obriadah, obychaiah i poriadkah v ustroistve domashnei i obshhestvennoi zhizni [Old life. Sketches and stories on the ceremonies in days past, on customs and orders in the structure of the house and public life]. Moscow, Rusich. 464 p. (In Russ.).

Storozhenko, A. A. (2015) Konfessional'nye migratsii staroobriadtsev kak kanal mezhkul'turnogo vzaimodeistvia v Tsentral'noi Azii v XIX — nachale XX v. [Confessional migrations of Old Believers as the channel of cross-cultural interaction in Central Asia in 19th and early 20th century]. In: Staroobriadchestvo: istoriia i sovremennost', mestnye traditsii, russkie i zarubezhnye sviazi [Old Belief: history and modernity, local traditions, Russian and foreign relations]. Proceedings of 6th International research conference, Ulan-Ude, 7–8 August 2015 / ed. by S. V. Vasilyeva. Ulan-Ude, Izdatel'stvo Buriatskogo gosuniversiteta. 391 p. Pp. 130–137. (In Russ.).

Sedakova, O. A. (2004) Poetika obriada. Pogrebal'naia obriadnost' vostochnykh i yuzhnykh slavian [Poetics of a rite: Funeral ceremonialism of East and South Slavs]. Moscow, Indrik. 320 p. (In Russ.).

Sudakov, S. A. (2011) Ural'skie kazaki-staroobriadtsy Amu-Dar'inskogo oazisa [Ural Old Believer Cossacks of the Amu-Daryinsky oasis]. Ural'sk, Optima. 128 p. (In Russ.).

Tatarintseva, M. P. (2006) Staroobriadtsy v Tuve: istoriko-etnograficheskii ocherk [Old Believers in Tuva: A historical and ethnographic sketch]. Novosibirsk, Nauka. 216 p. (In Russ.).

Toporov, V. N. (1983) Prostranstvo i tekst : semantika i struktura [Space and text : Semantics and structure] / ed. by T. V. Tsivyan. Moscow, Nauka. 302 p. Pp. 240–241. (In Russ.).

Fursova, E. F. (1985) Zhenskaia pogrebal'naia odezhda russkogo naseleniia Altaia. Traditsii i innovatsii v bytu i kul'ture narodov Sibiri [Women's burial clothes of the Russian population of Alta. Traditions and innovations in life and the culture of the people of Siberia] / ed. by L. M. Rusakova. Novosibirsk, Akad. nauk SSSR, In-t istorii, filologii i filosofii. 142 p. Pp. 73–87. (In Russ.).

Chernykh, A. V. (2008) «Sviataja voda» v staroobriadcheskikh traditsiakh Permskogo Prikam'ya ["Holy water" in Old Belief traditions of the Perm Prikamye]. Vestnik Cheliabinskogo universiteta, no. 5, pp. 88–92. (In Russ.).