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- Title
Walking with a Clump of Turf on One's Head: The Life and Death of a Ritual.
- Authors
Boudovskaia, Elena
- Abstract
The 20th century salt' major changes in the way of life in rural eastern Europe. Traditional folklore that had been preserved for centuries was also changing and disappearing. This paper examines one ritual: namely, a male peasant's walking on a contested land boundary with a clump of turf on his head. After an analysis of the ritual 's latest versions, recorded from a female speaker in a Carpatho-Rusyn village in Ukraine in 2017-2020. I examine the ritual in its historical perspective and discuss its differences from older versions in other traditions. The changes are attributed to two main factors: the abandonment of old land boundaries under collective farmland ownership, and the narrative's being shaped by contemporary rural female perceptions of magic, sin, and retribution. The results contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of changes in traditional rural folklore.
- Subjects
UKRAINE; RITES &; ceremonies; FOLKLORE; RITUAL; PEASANTS; COUNTRY life; TWENTIETH century
- Publication
Western Folklore, 2023, Vol 82, Issue 1, p61
- ISSN
0043-373X
- Publication type
Article