On the structural organization of ritual songs of the Kazym Khanty Bear Feast

The article is devoted to the plot construction principles of ritual songs of the bear feast of Kazym Khanty. The ritual songs of a bear feast are characterized by multilevel text structure. In the field of view of the author are 8 mish songs (the songs of deity luck) and 7 poekty songs (prayers to a great gods). Comparing of mish songs the author distinguishes its two main types: male and female mish songs which are characterized by the following constant elements in the structure of the narrative: beginning; the description of the house of the deity; deity goes out of house; deity gets news from a crow; deity picks up; deity arrives to a bear feast; deity performs a dance that brings good luck in hunting. The number of constant motifs in poekty prayer songs is fewer: the description of the house in which the great deity sits; deity writes destinies; deity picks up; final: deity performs a dance that makes people’s life better. Thereby the typicality of the mish and poekty songs is of different degrees. Male and female deities in mish songs have a large number of similarities. But the prayer-songs dedicated to great deities are more individual

Art · Dance · Literature · Luck · Narrative · Prayer · Theology · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Linguistics and Cultural Studies · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Religious studies