SLFK 212, March 2, 2004
Last lecture - interpreting the Ukrainian wedding in terms of magic and pollution beliefs
In terms of ritual and how it handles anomalies in the culture
Start Russian wedding
Courtship has a great deal in common with Ukrainian
Different name - called posedelki instead of vechornytsi or dosivtky
But same deal - hire house
Do some work, usually with fiber
Then meal, games with opposite sex, singing
Formal request does differ
Role of women
First request can be by the svakha, a special role in the village, sort of like baba or midwife and she is literally a matchmaker
Her job is to check out young women on behalf of the groom's family and to find the sort of woman who would be compatible
Much of the compatibility has to do with being able to get along with the other women of the household
New wife will spend a lot of her time with the other women
While husband and men are out in the fields
So, getting along is important
After initial matchmaking comes the deal making
Here men take over
Interesting thing seems to be the equivalency of the bride and the possessions of the groom
His people inspect her
Her people inspect his farmstead and his possessions
Seems to be exchange of her for possessions
Idea of bride price does play out here
The horn hats and the equivalency of women and cattle
If this agreement is concluded favorably, the bride is supposed to run away and hide and have to be forcibly brought back
She makes a BIG show of NOT wanting to marry
She is often removed from her family at this point
Covered with a shawl
She may stop eating with the family
Will eat by herself after everyone else has eaten
She is not part of the family and does not have the same claim to their food
She is usually excused from work that contributes to the family
Allowed to put the finishing touches on her wedding chest contents
Final preparations:
Russian nedelia, the week before the wedding
Brewing of beer
Bride tells dad off for giving her away
Tries to knock over vat with beer so that the wedding can't take place
Lamenting
Including falling on hands and knees
Placheia as an alternative to the shawl
Saying good bye to water
Water as a transitional element, gateway to the other world
As in the fortune-telling video
Day before the wedding, bridal chest taken to the home of the groom and displayed
The female relatives of the groom get to inspect and criticize her as a worker
Fortunately, she does not have to be there
And they can get out antagonism or resentment to her this way
Bride's night before the wedding
Women only
Last good cry
Ritual bath and inspection
Feeding the bathwater to the groom
Can be her immediate family and female guests, her girlfriends
The ceremony of the krasota
Not-too-subtle symbolism
She asks dad to take it off, various brothers
Finally youngest one does; he has the least claim in her?
She then takes it back and complains that it does not fit anymore
Notice parallelism and contrast
Youngest male gives her away, in a sense
Oldest male, her father-in-law will welcome her into the new house
After this sleep or vigil
Meanwhile, no special events at the home of the groom
On the morning of the wedding day
Train departs the home of the groom
Usually lead by the best man, NOT the groom
In fact, the best man does all of the talking at the wedding
The groom says nothing and does nothing
Train encounters opposition on the way from the bride's relatives
Mock fights, straw fires
Big confrontation at the home of the bride
Riddling contest
Paying way in
BUYING a seat next to the bride
They eat at the home of the bride and go to church
Train to church has bride's hair loose
Also pins in her clothing an banging of pots and pans
When the couple leaves her farmstead, water poured after them as is done when the corpse is carried out for burial
After church
Go to the home of the groom
Mother-in-law may try to "frighten" her to put her in her place
She is welcomed in by father-in-law
Snokhachestvo and the rights of the father-in-law
Big feast at the home
Couple seated apart, often on fur
Sometimes not allowed to eat
Mock tasks for the bride
To a certain extent, like the real tasks she will do
Sweeping, drawing water
Sometimes, she is shown the way to the water and introduced to the water
Again, parallel by contrast to saying goodbye to water at home
Mock tasks are a ritual humiliation of sorts
Braiding of the hair; sometimes in church and sometimes in the home
Single braid split into 2
And she gets the special headdress that women wear
Consummation of marriage
In a special place, like the barn
Has to be cold so that couple will cuddle together
Or the cattle fertility line
Bed "warmed up" for the couple by a happily married couple
Couple tied together
Further humiliation of the bride
Take off boots of groom
He "beats" her to put her in her place
Old lady vigil? Or best man vigil?
Announcing the consummation
Proof of consummation?
Morning after
Visit to in-laws, as in her parents
The ritual with the glass of vodka or the omelet
Again, comment on virginity
Please notice that all of this is done to the bride
The wedding is a rite of passage primarily for the bride
Not a whole lot happens to the groom
She must "die" from the point of view of her own household to be reborn in the household of her husband
Death symbolism because
She moves in space and space is such an important symbol
Men NEVER move, expect when they die
You have to make sure that she severs ties with her home to become fully a member of her husband's house
Some additional evidence - way the bride is removed from the home is similar to the removal of the corpse
Not door but other opening
Washing away the tracks after the procession leaves
Clothing - she wears the same dress for wedding and for funeral
Laments - most recorded funeral laments are for men
It is almost like the woman was lamented when she got married and does not need to be lamented when she dies