M. V. Loginova, M. V. Lunina (Saransk, Russia). The ambivalence of festive culture (on the example of the Mordovian ethnos)

Marina V. Loginova,
Doctor of Philosophy, Professor,
Department of Cultural Studies and Library and Information Resource,
Ogarev Mordovia State University (Saransk, Russia), marina919@mail.ru

Marina V. Lunina,
Post-graduate student,
Department of Cultural Studies and Library and Information Resource,
Ogarev Mordovia State University
(Saransk, Russia), marina.Lunina.2014@inbox.ru

Taking into account modern cultural concepts, the article considers category of ambivalence of festive culture on the example of the wedding traditions of the Mordva. The dual nature of Mordovian festive culture is expressed in the preservation of pagan customs along with Christian ones. The purpose of the article is to analyze the ambivalence of the Mordovian holiday and to reveal its role in preserving the traditional folk culture. The object of research is a holiday as a phenomenon of culture; the subject is a polysemy in the interpretation of festive rituals. The results of the research allow to deepen and expand the idea of the Mordovian holiday for description and analysis.
The material of the study was made up of foreign and domestic printed sources. A number of approaches to the study of the phenomenon of ambivalence were analyzed. Observing the festive culture for a certain period of time allows to establish the values prioritized in this period, as the holiday updates them as applicable to the current moment, adapting to the present. Analytical and descriptive methods were used.
The article shows interrelation and role of Pagan and Christian customs in preserving traditional culture of the Mordovian people. It analyses the dual nature of Mordovian festivity, several concepts of understanding ambivalence are examined and a close relationship of ambivalence with the most important ontological concepts such as “war”, “peace”, “good” and “evil”, “life” and “death”, “work” and “leisure”.
The festive ritual of the Mordva is the part of the traditional culture. To preserve the national identity, it is necessary to study it. As a result of the study, Mordovian marriage revealed that the wedding combines various contradictions. That testifies the preservation of Pagan rituals in the modern world.

Key words: ambivalence, festivity, festive ritual, combination of Paganism and Orthodoxy.

For citation: Loginova MV, Lunina MV. The ambivalence of festive culture (on the example of the Mordovian ethnos) . Finno-ugorskii mir = Finno-Ugric World. 2018; 10: 1: 89–93. (In Russian)