Историческая этнология (Nov 2017)
Tatar folklore as a basis for the folk etiquette (late 19th – early 20th centuries)
Abstract
The etiquette of many Turkic peoples has common features. For example, the cult of the elders, the tradition of hospitality. However, every historical epoch creates its own norms of behavior. This article analyzes the various codes of conduct regulating the private and public life of the Tatars in the imperial period of history. Social norms were closely connected with popular beliefs, including those with pagan beliefs. To explain the essence of traditional prohibitions, regulations and superstitious ideas the author refers to the Tatar folklore materials, which were collected by Kayum Nasyri, Nikolai Katanov, Yakov Koblov, Gali Rahim, and Naki Isanbet. These materials were compared with data from other sources. These are ethnographic observations and journalism, collections of rules of conduct, published in the late 19th century in Kazan. We consider everyday practices in the sphere of work, home life, marriage and family, upbringing and education. The study concluded that the Tatar etiquette formed on the ground of the pagan (Turkic) and the Arab-Muslim myths. The remnants of these rules were preserved in the first half of the 20th century. But at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, the norms of behavior were corrected under the influence of the socio-economic transformations of the era.
