UDC

801.81:398.89

Authors

Antonina S. Semenova
Saint Petersburg State University;
Universitetskaya nab. 11, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation;
e-mail: mercadera@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article deals with contemporary singing practice of the inhabitants of the villages in the Arkhangelsk Region that has been observed by researchers from Saint Petersburg State University over the past decade. The term singing practice denotes in this article the singing of folk songs. Folk singing is presented here as an essential everyday practice. The study aimed to problematize folk singing as a type of activity and reveal its symbolic nature. Local singing practice is characterized by three key components: age and sex characteristics of the singers, their repertoire, and typical situations of singing. On the basis of the field data, the following were identified as the typical situations: on stage; during a rehearsal; in informal setting; during an interview; alone. These situations are described using several parameters: singers, repertoire, place, and spontaneous/organized nature. This method of analytical description was developed in the course of research seminars at the Faculty of Philology, Saint Petersburg State University. It is based on the idea that folk singing is an essential everyday practice and allows us to provide a detailed description of the object of research applying categories used by the local inhabitants. In terms of theoretical significance, this research presents folk singing in an aspect unusual for Russian folk studies: not as a form of creativity of outstanding rural singers, but as an everyday practice of people with different singing skills. Moreover, the method of analytical description introduced in this paper is universal and can be used to study contemporary singing practices in other areas.

Keywords

folklore studies, Mezen District, Leshukonskoye District, singing practice, folk singing

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