Open AccessCLOTHING AS A PART OF THE MARI WEDDING GIFT EXCHANGE (THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20th CENTURIES)
Author(s) -
Песецкая Александра Александровна
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ežegodnik finno-ugorskih issledovanij
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2311-0333
pISSN - 2224-9443
DOI - 10.35634/2224-9443-2019-13-2-312-324
Subject(s) - clothing , ceremony , rite , rite of passage , object (grammar) , sociology , art , history , anthropology , political science , law , computer science , archaeology , artificial intelligence
The article considers using clothing items during the traditional Mari wedding gift exchange ceremony. In addition to its emblematic function represented by a dress as a whole, the Mari wedding clothing has always been a part of the wedding gift exchange ritual. Though, it rarely was an object of research in this respect. The rite of exchange of the clothing items takes an important place in the Mari wedding procedure, because it pinpoints social relations of different levels, of both individual and group levels. Items of exchange serve as communication mediators and form a pattern of the rite. The research is based on the archival exhibits and written sources of the Russian museum of ethnography. Apart from that, the author’s field materials for the period from 2009 to 2018 obtained through own expeditionary work in various regions of the Mari El were used. Based on the sources, the article analyses information on the extent of the clothing’s significance and usage as an object of the gift exchange ceremony, considers different types of clothing items used for the exchange as well as their possible equivalents, discloses relevant features of these items. The paper specifies levels of the wedding ceremony with an exchange of the clothing items fixed. In particular, a primary secret agreement, marriage proposal, gifting guests with a bride are crucial components of the rite with a public agreement present. The study of the Mari wedding gift exchange seems to be promising, as, despite a transformed wedding ceremony, the procedure itself remains unchanged, being one of the most sustainable mechanisms of the public regulation.