УДК 81.282

The concept "holiday" in the Russian national consciousness

Кузьмина Елена Борисовна – старший преподаватель кафедры русского языка как иностранного Санкт-Петербургского государственного университета.

Abstract: In the papers the concept "holiday" compares in the literary language and in the dialect language picture of the world. The discrepancy in the scope of this concept is due to the existence of cherished holidays celebrated by villagers. In the Russian folk consciousness the holiday is presented as "bequeathed" (promised) to God and is associated with a centuries-old fulfilled vow to celebrate it, unlike the language picture of the world presented in the literary language. The cherished holidays reflect Christian and pagan traditions: they trace the ancient plots of the contract with the gods, sacrifices (in the form of prayer, veneration, meals, etc.), but the objects of veneration are Christian saints and shrines.

Аннотация: В статье сопоставляется понятие «праздник» в литературном языке и в диалектной языковой картине мира. Несовпадение объема этого понятия обусловлено существованием заветных праздников, которые отмечают деревенские жители. В отличие от языковой картины мира, представленной в литературном языке, в русском народном сознании праздник представляется как «завещанный» (обещанный) Богу и связан с многовековым выполняемым обетом его праздновать. В заветных праздниках пересекаются христианские и языческие традиции: в них прослеживаются древние сюжеты договора с богами, жертвы (в виде молитвы, почитания, трапезы и т.п.), при этом объектами почитания являются христианские святые и святыни.

Keywords: Russian folk Russian dialects, dialectology of the Russian language, dialect language picture of the world, holiday, cherished holidays.

Ключевые слова: русские народные говоры, диалектология русского языка, диалектная языковая картина мира, праздник, заветные праздники.

There is no doubt now, that the dialect language picture of the world (DLPW) differs from the language picture of the world the literary. O.A.Radchenko and N.A.Zakutkina wrote: "It is quite possible not only to assume the existence of one's own picture of the world in the dialects of existing languages, but also to prove this on factual material in a comparative mode. The dialect picture of the world differs from the general linguistic one in its natural character, since it develops in a rather closed dialect collective, reflects the peculiarities of the way of life, proximity to nature, characteristic features of rural labor, is not distorted and is not leveled by any codification, but serves as a kind of substrate for the world picture in a commonly used language" [11, p. 24]. One of these differences is the concepts presented in the DLPW and in the language picture of the world in the literary language.

These differences are reflected in the concept "holiday". This concept is different in popular consciousness and literary language. In the "Great Academic Dictionary of the Russian language" the word holiday has 5 meanings:

  1. A day or days of celebration established in honor of or in memory of someone, something.
  2. A general non-working day or several days in a row on the occasion of such celebrations.
  3. Fun, a celebration organized by someone on some occasion.
  4. About a day marked by some kind of an important, pleasant event, as well as about the most important, pleasant event.
  5. The pleasure experienced from something is a pleasant, joyful feeling, as well as a source of pleasure, joy [2: 19, p. 460-462].

A component analysis of the meanings holiday in the modern literary language allows us to identify common (recurring) semes in the concepts designated by it in the modern Russian language consciousness: ‘pleasant’, ‘pleasure’, ‘joyful’, ‘joy’, ‘fun’.

There is a different understanding in the dialect picture of the world, which is represented in the concept "cherished holiday" in the Russian folk. It reflects the attitude to the holiday not as entertainment, but as a vow, a covenant. This is a holiday that is celebrated in a certain village, locality and is established by the villagers themselves according to a vow in gratitude to God and the saints for saving them from some kind of disaster.

Cherished holidays were studied by Russian linguists in dialectologists's and folklorists's papers: in the papers by I.Y.Vinokurova, the cherished Veps's holidays are studied, in the articles by V.E. Sharapov, A.A. Chuvyurov, V.V. Vlasova, these holidays are described by Komi and Komi-Zyryans, I.A.Morozov described the cherished holidays in Northern Belozerye, in the article "Rituals of disaster and cherished holidays" folklorist S.Adonyeva analyzed the cherished holidays in Russian North in a semiotic way, etc. [1; 3-4; 6-7, 8-9, 15-17].

The adjective zavetnyj ‘associated with a vow, promise, secret condition’ in the names zavétnyj prázdnik, zavétnyj den' (denyok) is formed from the noun zavet meaning ‘promise; vow' [14: 9, p. 308]; 'a promise to God to fulfill, to do something, a vow' [10: 11, p. 71], this holiday is presented as "bequeathed" (promised) to God and is associated with the centuries-old vow of the inhabitants in the certain village – the promise to celebrate it: S ikonoj priezzhali v derevnyu batyushki, i delaem zavetnoj praz[d]nik, shto v etot den' nikak ne robotat'. Ustyuzh. Volog. [6]; Lodejnop. Leningr., Kalinin., 1931 [14: 9, p. 310]; Zavétnye prázniki náshy Egór'ya dva, Duhаv den' i Bagaródicu, v nas shastóva máya zavétnyj práznik Egórij. Bezh. V Starúhine zavétnyj práznik byl Vladímir. Psk. [10: 11, p. 73]. The other names of the holiday also contain the idea of a vow, a promise to God: obétnyj prázdnik: Obetnye prazdniki – eto kogda dayut obet. Gotovyat vsyo sámoe vkúsnoe. LARNG, Lokn., 1996 (obet 'solemn promise, oath, vow’ [10: 22, p. 125]); V obetnyj prazdnik kropili konej: privodili konej k chasovne, priezzhal svyashchennik, sluzhil moleben. Cherep. Volog.; Iverskaya — «ovvetnyj» prazdnik. Cherep. Volog. [8]; obéshchannyj prázdnik: U nás-to obéshchannyj prázdnik – Spásov den'. Tolstik Sol. [12: 1, p. 307]; Prazdniki kaki-to obeshchanye byli: obeshchanaya pyatnica byvat vesnoj i v noyabre, desyatogo chisla, dayut togda obeshchanie naschet skota. Vesnoj-to obeshchanyj prazdnik zhivet v maj. Solikam. Perm. + Yarosl., Volog. [14: 22, p. 41-42].

The death of cattle, a big fire, pestilence, drought, etc. were the reasons that people made a vow to God and began to celebrate chosen holiday: A Kírik gróznyj prázdnik. Godá tri zgaréla derévnya, tak vot aní i zavecháli spravlyát' état den', pa zavétu vot aní i práznuyut. Porh. [10: 11, p. 71]; «“Ovvety” delali: v odin god padala skotina, ustanovili prazdnik — Smolenskuyu, a v Spasov den' boleli koni. Kak sdelali prazdnik, skotina stala popravlyat'sya. V tretij Spas posle sluzhby kropyat konej na pole, a v den' Smolenskoj Bozh'ej Materi kropyat korov. U kazhdoj cerkvi byl kamen', na nego vstaval svyashchennik, zhenshchina derzhala chashu, a on kropil korovushek i loshadok» [8]; V nas Bagaródica zavétnyj práznik. V nas dyarévnya zgaréla v Bagaródicu i pastanovíli práznavat', et́a náshy dédav'ya. Gd. [10: 11, p. 73]; Éta zavétnyj práznik byl, po skotiny, skotína prapadála, dáli zavét, Kuz'mý, Dim'yánu prosíli, shtop ih výlechili, imú stáli sluzhýt' i skatína stála vyzdarávlivat'. Porh.  [10: 16, p. 336].

Cherished holidays were celebrated very widely: people from neighboring villages come to the village, where there is a celebration, a church service, a fair on this day, so this holiday is also called - sbórnyj prázdnik, sjézzhij prázdnik, sjézdnyj prázdnik ‘holiday hosted by one of the villages’: A po sbornym prazdnikam bragu pili, iz sosednih dereven' sobiralis'. Onezh. Pecheninki na sbornyj prazdnik. U nas, naprimer, Varvara byla, u kazhdoj derevni svoj sbornyj prazdnik, gosti sobirayutsya. Onezh. [13: 5, p. 138]; Odna derevnya schitaet svoim prazdnikom Petrov den', drugaya — Rozhdestvo, tret'ya — Kuz'min den'. Na sjezzhij prazdnik sjezzhayutsya gulyat' s okrestnyh dereven'. Tom. Kemer. [14: 43, p. 113]; Mikola u nas byla vesnusha, to zhe sjezdnyj prazdnik byl. Kemer., 1976 [14: 31, p. 63].

An obligatory part of the holiday was church service, collective prayer and procession, so in Russian folk dialects, this holiday was nemed Bogomól'nye dni (bogomol'nyj is formed from molit'sya Bogu). This is a tribute (and sacrifice) to God for the help they provided, they became a talisman against misfortune: «Byvaet Erdan' — krestnyj hod „na vodu", v kotoroj, posle pogruzheniya kresta, kupayut skot». Lodejnop. Leningr., Kalinin,1931 [14: 9, p. 310]; Padezh byl na skotinu i zavetali krestnyj hod delat'. Novg., Psk., Leningr., Tver. [14: 9, p. 309].

The cherished holidays combine Christian and pagan traditions: they trace ancient plots of a contract with the gods, sacrifices (in the form of veneration, meals, feasts, treats of neighbors, etc.), but the holidays are dedicated to Orthodox saints and events. The power of the cherished holidays is based, on the one hand, on pagan collective magic, on the other hand, on conciliar prayer, which performs the function of a ritual talisman against misfortunes (pestilence of people, fires, hail, livestock deaths, etc.). The concept of a holiday as a covenant, a vow distinguishes the Russian national consciousness from the consciousness of native speakers of the literary language.

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