On the structural organization of ritual songs of the Kazym Khanty Bear Feast: songs of the gods luck mish ar and prayer-songs poekty ar

Abstract

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.