Ritual codes of the summer-autumn season of the calendar cycle of the Belarusians of Siberia and the Far East

This paper considers the ritual codes (temporal, local, actional, personal, real, and verbal) of the summer-autumn season of the calendar cycle of Belarusian-settlers of Siberia and the Far East. The author used archival and published materials on calendar folklore recorded in the 1970s - 2010s from the descendants of Belarusian-settlers living in various districts of the Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tyumen, Kemerovo regions, as well as the Krasnoyarsk, Primorsky and Khabarovsk regions. First, the analysis focuses on the comments and explanations recorded by the folklore collectors from the tradition-bearers. These materials directly reflect the folk calendar terminology of the Belarusian-settlers and describe “from the inside” the ritual situations, including the context of the performance of calendar songs. A comparison is made between two periods of the summer-autumn season: 1) the summer and 2) the late summer and autumn. The first period is dominated by festive folk-ethnographic complexes, while the second period is predominantly characterized by seasonal work. The consistent comparison of ritual codes has revealed the specificity of summer-autumn season periods, making their striking contrast evident. Summer rituals and songs dedicated to them appear as the completion of a large cycle of rituals that began in the Christmastide period and were aimed at bringing about the harvest. The folk-ethnographic complex of late summer and autumn includes the rituals and songs accompanying the harvest.

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