Finno-Ugric and Turkic ritual of initiation of a bride: The common and specific in traditional sacred knowledge (on the example of the Ob Ugrians and Kazakh peoples)

Финно-угорский и тюркский ритуал инициации невесты: общее и специфичное в традиционных сакральных знаниях (на примере обских угров и казахов)
Naurzbaeva A.B. Shaygozova Z.N. Kulsarieva S.P.
2021 Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development

Bulletin of Ugric Studies
2021 #11 Issue 2 388 - 397 pp.

Introduction: wedding rituals are the most stable elements of traditional culture. A comparative analysis of rituals and ceremonies of the transition/initiation of a bride among the Ob Ugrians and Kazakh peoples demonstrate not only specific ethnic traits, but there are also common elements manifested in the ceremony of sendoff a bride from her father’s house, the period of «without status» and the rites of inclusion in a new genus/family. Objective: on the basis of a comparative analysis of a bride’s initiation ritual in the Finno-Ugric (Ob-Ugric peoples) and Turkic (Kazakh peoples) wedding rite, to determine the general and specific in the traditional sacred knowledge of these peoples. Research materials: theoretical works on the Finno-Ugric and Turkic wedding rituals, oral reports of informants and field research of the authors. Results and novelty of the research: the analysis of Finno-Ugric (Ob-Ugric peoples) and Turkic (Kazakh people) wedding rituals has proved that the rituals of a bride’s initiation in both cultures are divided into three stages: the bride’s sendoff ceremony from her father’s house, the period of «without status», and the rite of inclusion into a new family. This structural unity corresponds to the cosmological understanding of the initiation ritual as an origin of the bride’s new status. The scientific novelty of the work is that it shows for the first time a comparative analysis of the Finno-Ugric and Turkic wedding rituals of transition/initiation of a bride. The universal structural elements of wedding ritual activities have been established, containing both common and ethnic differences.

Comparative analysis , Kazakh people , Ob-Ugric people , Rituals of bride initiation , Tradition , Wedding rituals

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Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Abai National Pedagogical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Kazakh Research Institute of Culture, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory
Abai National Pedagogical University
Kazakh Research Institute of Culture

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