Polesie: Frontier of Archaic Traditions (on the Example of Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian Family Rituals)

Abstract

Polesie remains the interest of ethnologists and anthropologists to this day since it has allowed  us to record the rudiments of archaic rites including ones from the family cycle. Modern socio-humanitarianism gives preference to the study of certain realities in limited areas. Therefore, the theme concerning the reasons and ways of protecting children from premature death in Polesie is still relevant today. The goal of the author is to analyse the main reasons for these premature deaths and consider ways of protecting children from premature death; the role and significance of verbal formulas; subjects markers and home loci was used during this process. The object of the research is the rituals of the family cycle as a component of folk culture of the inhabitants of Polesie. The subject of the research – magic ways to protect a baby. Methodological basis of the work is in the principles of objectivity and historicism. The methods of comparative and structural-functional analysis were used to process field and archival, ethnographic and folklore material. The source base of the research consists of author’s field materials and recordings of other scientists of the State Scientific Centre for Cultural Heritage Protection from Technogenic Catastrophes during complex historical-ethnographic expeditions within the territory of Polesie. Traditional ways of protecting a child were aimed at deceiving death via different rituals. Most of them were related to the choice of God parents, a name of a child, immitation of child purchase-sale, baby transfer through the window, burring of a child with a cradle, etc.