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Auseichyk V. Funeral Rites of the Belarusian Rural Population of the Dvina Region at the Present Stage

U. Auseichyk
Polotsk State University
Novopolotsk, Republic of Belarus
ORCID: 0000-0002-6433-0039
E-mail: u.auseichyk@psu.by

 

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ABSTRACT. Based on field ethnographic materials from the late twentieth — early twenty first centuries, the article discusses the contemporary state of funeral rites among the Belarusian rural population of Dvina Region (Belarusian Podvin’e). The author analyzes the structure of the ritual, singles out traditional elements and recent innovations, and reveals the specificity of the rituality of the Catholic and Orthodox population of the region. Podvin’e occupies the northern part of Belarus and is located in the basin of the Western Dvina and its tributaries. Its ethno-cultural specificity in the region has been largely shaped by its geographical location (the region borders on the territories of Russia, Lithuania, and Latvia), political processes (until 1939 its western part was a part of Poland), and the confessional composition of the population (long-term residence of the Orthodox and Catholics). The study involves new field materials, some of which were recorded by the author. Materials and conclusions of the article can be useful for studies of worldviews and beliefs, and also those of ethno-cultural processes.

 

KEYWORDS: funeral ritual, Belarusians, Dvina Region (Belarusian Podvin’e), ritual, evolution

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2021-2(12)-52-71
УДК 393(=161.3)

 

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