Everyday Life in a Mari Village - Modernization Process of Mari Women

Authors

  • Ildikó Lehtinen, PhD, Docent Museum of Cultures
  • Jyri Kokkonen

Keywords:

everyday life, clothing, cleaning, museum, festival, memory

Abstract

The Mari people live in the Volga region in Russia. Their language belongs to the Finno-Ugrian language family. The Republic of Mari El is an agricultural and economically depressed region. By utilizing the concept of everyday life, this article analyses the identity of Mari Woman in post-socialist time.

How do the concepts of everyday life and the feast, or the private sphere and public space, relate to each other? Is the feast, the stage provided by the bustle of a festival, the strength of national identity, or are the recurring rhythms of everyday life the binding force? Can we compare everyday life and traditions to each other? In most cases, traditions are regarded as being actualized in public space, on stage, at festivals and various events. Everyday life, feasts and festivals are part of the cultural heritage, which is discussed here from the perspective of everyday life. The first part of article presents the everyday life of Mari woman through cleanliness practices and clothing. The second part compares the everyday life to the festival practices.

Section
Research Articles

Published

2006-12-31

How to Cite

Lehtinen, I., & Kokkonen, J. (2006). Everyday Life in a Mari Village - Modernization Process of Mari Women. Ethnologia Fennica, 33, 32–47. Retrieved from https://journal.fi/ethnolfenn/article/view/66227