E-mail: litvinjulia@yandex.ru Tel.: +7 (8142) 78-44-96
PhD (History), junior researcher, Institute of Language, Literature and History, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences:
11, Pushkinskaya str., Petrozavodsk, 185910, Republic of Karelia, Russian Federatio
The paper is prepared within the framework of the research “Peoples of Karelia: ethnic and ethno-local traditions in their historical dynamics” No. 0225–2018–0017.
The article analyzes the traditional fi eld operations of Karelians (sowing and harvesting) through the lens of the gender approach. The research is based on ethnographic descriptions of the late 19th — early 20th century, the materials of the fi rst complex ethnographic expeditions to Karelia, as well as lexical data. Karelians were aware of two forms of land use — slash-and-burn and three-fi eld systems of agriculture. The fi rst was widespread in all groups of Karelians and retained its importance up to collectivization. The author concludes on the similarity of common elements of the gender symbolism in Karelian agricultural rites with neighboring ethnic groups, as well as with the Russian tradition. Thus, the sowing of the fi eld was correlated with the act of symbolic fertilization of the earth and was performed by men, while the harvest was carried out by women reapers who helped “mother-earth” to give birth and perform the role of midwives. At the same time, the agrarian and commercial type of household aff ected the everyday practices of the Karelian peasants — in the case of the absence of employable men in seasonal works or during wars, women could become seeders. Such “inversion” of gender roles was forced and one-sided: women could perform a male role as a seeder, while the collected materials and sources did not contain information about the participation of men in the harvesting ceremonies.
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