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Mikhailova-En’kka E. Divorce Customs of the Chuvash and Finno-Ugric Peoples of the Volga-Ural Region According to the Sources of the 16th–19th Centuries: Ethnographic Aspect

Elena Mikhailova-En’kka
Independent researcher
Cheboksary, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-3209-0712
Е-mail: ee.chv@yandex.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. The data from the 16th century by Rafael Barberini and Alexander Guagnini about the ritual of divorce with tearing of the canvas over “flowing water”, which existed on the European territory of Russia, is considered. This information is compared with the reports of Peter Simon Pallas and Johann Gottlieb Georgi about a similar Chuvash divorce rite of the 18th century, as well as with information from the 19th century cited by V. K. Magnitsky, which includes the tearing of a surpan — a woman's headdress in the form of a long cloth. Their similarity in essential features is revealed, which makes it possible to attribute the ritual, first recorded by Barberini, to the Chuvash tradition, and the torn object to the Chuvash women's headdress surpan. This ritual is typologically similar to sharagat divorce ritual, known from the 19th century records, which includes cutting of the belt. Sharagat was practiced among the peripheral ethnic groups of the Mari and Udmurts of the Perm, Ufa and possibly Kazan provinces. The compactness of the territory of existence of this ritual of divorce is identified and graphically presented, and the possibility of its existence among the Mansi and Mordovians who lived in the designated territory is suggested. Printed sources of information about this ritual and borrowings, including plagiarism, are identified. The groundlessness of attributing sharagat to the Chuvash is also indicated. A possible reconstruction of the main elements of the rite is proposed. The research potential of the topic is outlined in the form of “points of convergence” of the two designated types of divorce that existed among the non-Muslim and non-Christian peoples of the Volga-Ural region.

 

KEYWORDS: divorce, sharagat, surpan, Chuvash, Cheremis, Votyak, Rafael Barberini

 

FOR CITATION: Mikhailova-En’kka E. Divorce Customs of the Chuvash and Finno-Ugric Peoples of the Volga-Ural Region According to the Sources of the 16th–19th Centuries: Ethnographic Aspect. Kunstkamera. 2024. 3(25): 189–206. (In Russian). doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2024-3(25)-189-206

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2024-3(25)-189-206
UDC 391

 

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