Game as an element of traditional culture of the Ob Ugrians (outdoor games with pebbles and sticks: comparative analysis)
English
journal number:
Journal’s Subject Headings:
History, ethnography, archeology
About author:
Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Introduction: games and toys of the Ob Ugrians are important parts of the traditional culture which includes the ethno-cultural specifics. The game culture of the Khanty and Mansi people reflects their inextricable connection with nature, the traditional picture of the world and the way of life. The thematics of toys and the content of children’s games reproduces the economic activities of adults, imitates family and other social relations, and reflects the traditional way of life of the Ob Ugrians.
Objective: 1) to reveal the significance of the game culture of the Ob Ugrians as an integral part of their traditional way of life. 2) to carry out the comparative analysis of the floor games of the Ob Ugrians and their analogues among the Iranian people. Their typological similarity, along with other similar phenomena in the common complex of traditions for their cultures, is evidence of the Ugric-Iranian cultural and historical ties.
Research materials: the article is based on information about the games and the toys of Khanty and Mansi people, which contain in published sources, as well as on own field materials on the Kazym Khanty and the Northern Tajiks.
Results and novelty of the research: the author, systematized the available information about the games and toys of the Ob Ugrians, pays special attention to the outdoor games (previously these games never have been distinguished by the researchers as a separate kind of the game culture of the Ob Ugrians), namely, the traditional game with pebbles, which is not sufficiently represented in the scientific literature. The author shows its relationship with other types of outdoor games, first of all, with the game with sticks, where the game principles have been further developed. For the first time the question about the possibility of conducting the comparative analysis of traditional games of the Ob Ugrians with the games of other people is considered. This fact, along with other typologically close elements of culture, serves as a proof of their kinship and cultural contacts in ancient times.
Key words: the Ob Ugrians, ethno-pedagogy, game culture, classification of folk games, traditional games and toys, games with pebbles, games with sticks, cultural and historical ties.
Acknowledgements: the author is grateful to the informants M. K. Voldina and Ye. V. Moldanova, who gave the materials about the variants of traditional games with pebbles of the Kazym Khanty, as well as S. Radzhabova and N. Dzhuraeva, who gave the information about the similar games of the Tajiks of Leninabad Oblast; to S. Kh. Khaknazarov, who helped in spelling of the words in the Tajik language; to administration of the Ethnographic Open Air Museum «Torum maa», which provided an opportunity to approve this material during the work of the scientific and practical seminar on games and toys of the Ob Ugrians in May 2015; as well as to all those who have supported and assisted in the preparation and publication of this article: to administration of the Institute of Applied Researchers and Development, which supported the conducting of the research; to the translator for the translation of the article into English; to the editors and reviewers.
For citation: Voldina T. V. Game as an element of traditional culture of the Ob Ugrians (outdoor games with pebbles and sticks: comparative analysis) // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2018; 8(3): 503–524
ABSTRACT
Introduction: games and toys of the Ob Ugrians are important parts of the traditional culture which includes the ethno-cultural specifics. The game culture of the Khanty and Mansi people reflects their inextricable connection with nature, the traditional picture of the world and the way of life. The thematics of toys and the content of children’s games reproduces the economic activities of adults, imitates family and other social relations, and reflects the traditional way of life of the Ob Ugrians.
Objective: 1) to reveal the significance of the game culture of the Ob Ugrians as an integral part of their traditional way of life. 2) to carry out the comparative analysis of the floor games of the Ob Ugrians and their analogues among the Iranian people. Their typological similarity, along with other similar phenomena in the common complex of traditions for their cultures, is evidence of the Ugric-Iranian cultural and historical ties.
Research materials: the article is based on information about the games and the toys of Khanty and Mansi people, which contain in published sources, as well as on own field materials on the Kazym Khanty and the Northern Tajiks.
Results and novelty of the research: the author, systematized the available information about the games and toys of the Ob Ugrians, pays special attention to the outdoor games (previously these games never have been distinguished by the researchers as a separate kind of the game culture of the Ob Ugrians), namely, the traditional game with pebbles, which is not sufficiently represented in the scientific literature. The author shows its relationship with other types of outdoor games, first of all, with the game with sticks, where the game principles have been further developed. For the first time the question about the possibility of conducting the comparative analysis of traditional games of the Ob Ugrians with the games of other people is considered. This fact, along with other typologically close elements of culture, serves as a proof of their kinship and cultural contacts in ancient times.
Key words: the Ob Ugrians, ethno-pedagogy, game culture, classification of folk games, traditional games and toys, games with pebbles, games with sticks, cultural and historical ties.
Acknowledgements: the author is grateful to the informants M. K. Voldina and Ye. V. Moldanova, who gave the materials about the variants of traditional games with pebbles of the Kazym Khanty, as well as S. Radzhabova and N. Dzhuraeva, who gave the information about the similar games of the Tajiks of Leninabad Oblast; to S. Kh. Khaknazarov, who helped in spelling of the words in the Tajik language; to administration of the Ethnographic Open Air Museum «Torum maa», which provided an opportunity to approve this material during the work of the scientific and practical seminar on games and toys of the Ob Ugrians in May 2015; as well as to all those who have supported and assisted in the preparation and publication of this article: to administration of the Institute of Applied Researchers and Development, which supported the conducting of the research; to the translator for the translation of the article into English; to the editors and reviewers.
For citation: Voldina T. V. Game as an element of traditional culture of the Ob Ugrians (outdoor games with pebbles and sticks: comparative analysis) // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2018; 8(3): 503–524
