FEATURES OF THE FOLKLORE TRADITION OF KARELIAN SEGOZERO IN THE 19TH-21ST CENTURIES

Abstract

The territory of Segozero has two unique features that are not inherent in the whole of Karelia. This is the absence of a fixed epic tradition and the widespread development of song lyric genres. There are two reasons for this. First, perhaps in the process of development, one trend excluded the other. Secondly, it was the Segozero Karelians that experienced quite a great Russian influence in the early 19th century.

The article is written on the basis of archival materials and records made by the author during folkloric-ethnographic expeditions to Segozero Karelia in the first decade of the 21st century. Traditional methods of folklore studies were used: typological, descriptive, comparative-historical, and structural-typological.

The aim was to identify the process of transformation of folklore genres for a century and a half, to determine its main directions, as well as to present the epic as a reflection of the mental (worldview) beliefs of the people. One of the objectives was to attempt to establish the probable reasons why in Segozero, back in the 19th century, they failed to capture the epic tradition, widespread throughout the rest of Karelia.

The relevance of the article is determined by the need to trace the changes in the folk traditions, folklore texts and genres, as well as to be aware of new trends in folk art.

The study showed that only the older generation speaks Karelian nowadays. It should be noted that during the 20th century there were significant gender changes among the carriers of the Karelian folklore tradition. With wizards, medicine men and storytellers of the past being men, the by mid-century these practices were passed on to women. Almost all the traditional genres that existed in this territory in the Karelian language have gone out of everyday life. Epic songs have not been known for a long time. People still remember the existence of fairy-tale traditions and some plot conflicts, but can’t tell the tale. Music genres have been preserved for much longer. It is a funeral wail and a rhymed lyrical song. These are typically female genres. Thus, we can talk about the fragmentary preservation of the mythological prose. The main folk genre today is a biographical story.

Acknowledgements: The financial support for the research came from the federal budget for fulfillment of the state commission to the Karelian Scientific center of the RAS (project № АААА-А18-118030190094-6).

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