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Sem T. The Material World of Shamanic Attributes in the Light of the Theory of Shamanism (on the Example of the Collections of Russian Museums)

Tatiana Sem
Russian Ethnographic Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0003-3306-3481
E-mail: semturem@mail.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. The article is devoted to the problems of shamanism associated with shamanic visions of the real world on the example of shamanic paraphernalia from the collection of museum collections in Russia. The author proceeds from the premise that shamanism is a holistic (holotropic) vision of the world, reflecting the concept of the connection between man and nature, man and the Universe. Russian museums contain unique artifacts of the traditional society of the XVIII–XX centuries, revealing the ethnic features of the culture of the peoples of Siberia, and characterizing their identity. The paper notes that the problem of collecting shamanic attributes is in the sphere of the currently relevant theory of the materiality of things within the framework of the “ontological turn” in ethnology. The article uses methods of material analysis — comparative-historical, semiotic and iconographic. The task of studying the problem fields of shamanism in the semiotic dimension is set. The article deals with the problem of shamanism in sacred attributes, the problem of sacred landscape, the problem of studying the semantics of shamanic costumes, the problem of initiation, functions and rituals in shamanic ritual sculpture, the problems of attribution of ritual sculpture, the problem of ecstasy and flights of shamans through the worlds, reflected in shamanic iconography. The author came to the conclusion that the shamanic attributes of the peoples of Siberia, stored in the main ethnographic museums of St. Petersburg (MAE and REM), characterize the foundations of shamanic worldview and cult practice. Russian and foreign shamanological researchers, relying on Siberian museum collections, reveal the features of shamanic initiation, paraphernalia, prayer, costumes, ritual sculpture. The value approach to museum shamanic attributes testifies to the great importance of shamanic objects, their high semiotic status, important sacred symbols and can be used as a historical and ethnographic source for analyzing the phenomenon of shamanism.

 

KEYWORDS: problems of shamanism, museum collections, semiotics, shamanic costumes, paraphernalia, prayer, initiation, peoples of Siberia

 

FOR CITATION: Sem T. The Material World of Shamanic Attributes in the Light of the Theory of Shamanism (on the Example of the Collections of Russian Museums). Kunstkamera. 2023. 2(20): 76–86. doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-2(20)-76-86  

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-2(20)-76-86
УДК 398.3

 

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