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Lakunova D. The Symbolism of Children’s Funeral and Memorial Rituals and Their Connection with Birth Rituals in Traditional Kabardian Culture

D. Lakunova
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the RAS
St. Petersburg, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0001-6224-7824
E-mail: anzva86@gmail.com

 

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ABSTRACT. This article analyzes the symbolism of children’s funeral and memorial rites and their connection with birth rituals and socialization in traditional Kabardian culture. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2024 and archival data, the relationship between rites regulating the beginning and end of life is revealed. Particular attention is paid to the role of symbolic magic, taboos, and ideas about border states (birth, death). It is shown that the specifics of the funeral ritual at the burial of a child were determined by the degree of the child’s integration into society, realized, among other things, through naming rituals and the transition to adult food. The author draws on J. Frazer’s research on sympathetic magic, G. F. Chursin’s work on the ethnography of the Caucasus, and other Caucasian scholars (S. Kh. Mafedzeva, M. A. Jandar). The methodological basis is formed by structural-functional analysis and a comparative-historical method. The mechanisms of ritual transformation in the context of Islamization and globalization are identified, including the conflict between traditional practices and the norms of the “new Islam”. The scientific novelty lies in the study of the relationship between birth and burial rituals as a single symbolic complex. The field and archival materials used for the study are valuable for ethnography in general and for research on the cultural heritage of the peoples of the North Caucasus in particular.

 

KEYWORDS: Kabardians, burial rituals, childbirth rituals, sympathetic magic, protective practices, traditional beliefs, cultural transformation

 

DOI 10. 31250/2618-8600-2026-2(32)-50-69
UDC 392.05+392.1(=352.3)

 

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