Ritual folklore of the Tuvans of China in a comparative perspective: genre signs

The paper analyses genre characteristics of ritual texts (good wishes, spells, incense) included in the structure of the family, the calendar, hunting and fishing rituals of the Tuvan different ethnic and local groups living on the territory of China, Russia and Mongolia. The folk terminology of ritual works in common folklore traditions and their similar semantic orientation related to the functional purpose of the genre are demonstrated. In the ritual vocabulary of Chinese Tuvans, the existence of collocations and patterns is shown describing the local folk tradition, different from the Russian Tuva. The work reveals the motives of good wishes of wedding and children cycles, including many cultural symbols, mythological images, expressions and concepts in a compact and concise form. It is proved that the good wishes of family rituals may contain «wrapped text» providing an allegorical description of the desired object. In contrast, compositional structure of the calendar good wishes consists of «long texts». They enumerate in detail the desired benefits for a certain time, as the calendar rituals are supposed to exist until the next ritual, a year later. Unlike other ritual genres, spells spoken in individual rites are characterised by «closeness» or «intimacy» due to the fact that people address a specific request to the supernatural forces in order to achieve the desired. The functional role of ritual genres in the composition of ritual is considered. The role of the verbal component in ritual culture is determined. Also, the interrelation of action and verbal elements to achieve the main purpose of the ritual is demonstrated. In most cases, the fulfilment of good wishes and spells is accompanied by different ritual-magic actions that increase their effectiveness and execution of requests and wishes in the future. The belief in the magic of words reinforces the fact that in all ethnic and local traditions of the Tuvinians, special emphasis is placed on the blessing man: it is important that the wish be said by an old man, wise in his life experience. Tuvinians believe that his words are effective and have a sacred significance. Cases of the «shakiness» of ritual texts, a characteristic local phenomenon in common Tuvan folklore tradition are noted. The Chinese Tuvans, in contrast to the maternal tradition, have a specific formula in mediation consisting of two elements: a specific statement of wishes and adding of sustainable formula. It is found that the verbal component of the ceremonies can be divided into two groups regarding the semantic orientation. The first group includes mandatory verbal formula, the second - replica, cheers or exclamations of participants of the ritual.

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