Kultūrinio tapatumo gairės. Simboliniai veiksmai vestuvėse

LTKultūriniai socialiniai procesai ir reiškiniai tiriami įvairiais kampais. Viena iš tyrimo krypčių yra tapatumo raiška. Analizuojant tapatumus, išryškėja tam tikri procesai, arba struktūros, iš kurių matyti, kaip žmonės modeliuoja, kuria kultūrą, sociumą. Šioje studijoje tapatumas suvokiamas kaip išraiškos priemonė, sudaranti kultūros bruožų formavimo pagrindą. Tapatumas nėra vienalytis reiškinys, tai labiau neapibrėžtas kompleksas įvairių dalykų, per kuriuos jis reiškiasi. Tyrimui pasirinktos viešos šeiminės apeigos - vestuvės. Jos tyrimams dažnai pasitelkiamos siekiant nustatyti komunikacijos, tapatumų poveikį visuomenės gyvenimui. Šiomis apeigomis viešai įforminama jaunųjų statuso kaita. Simboliniai veiksmai1 yra sudėtinė vestuvių apeigų dalis, kuri ne tik sudaro struktūrinį pagrindą, bet ir yra informatyvūs kartografavimo objektai. Struktūrinio pagrindo įvairovę, kitimą sudaro kokių nors artefaktų perėmimas iš paveldo ar naujų elementų įtraukimas į apeigas. Vienų ir kitų interpretacija atskleidžia žmonių (kuriamą ir perimtą) kultūrinį identitetą. Be to, simboliniais veiksmais visuomet perkuriamos senos ar kartu kuriamos naujos prasmės. [Iš teksto, p. 117]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Vedybos; Vestuvės; Papročiai; Tradicijos; Simboliai; Apeigos; Kultūrinis tapatumas; Tyrimai; Aukštaitija; Marriage; Weddings; Customs; Traditions; Symbols; Rituals; Cultural identity; Research; Aukštaitija; Lithuania.

ENThe present study purposes to outline the 2nd half of the 20th - early 21st c.c. characteristics of cultural identity representation in the Aukštaitija region. To achieve this aim, the following goals are set: to specify the innovation (more specifically, the distinctive character and the diffusion range of the innovation), the interpretations, and the area-based correlations of symbolic actions performed at a wedding. The enquiry basically relies on field material accumulated over 2002-2004. The field data were elicited from respondents by means of a questionnaire titled "Wedding Symbols". Worked out by me, it focuses on the performance/non-performance of symbolic actions and on the application/non-application of a number of symbols. As such, it does not seek to capture cither the wedding procedure or respondents' accounts of the relevant developments. To analyse the issues under investigation, materials accumulated by an ethnographic group under the leadership of A. Vyšniauskaitė in the Districts of Biržai, Molėtai, Panevėžys were also used in this study. These data were gathered by means of A. Vyšniauskaitė's questionnaire titled "Modern Wedding Customs". In this study, symbolic actions performed at a wedding are divided into two basic groups: the contact-based and the status-giving ones. The contact-based actions arc performed by wedding participants, sometimes very proximate ones. Through (he performance of definite actions PULKAI (companies) and other wedding participants set up and subsequently form new relations: get acquainted, demonstrate their mutual respect or otherwise exercise their influence by showing careful consideration for each other, one company releasing, the other accepting into their space, etc. The analysis specified the following two types of contact-based symbolic actions: a) the hostile and provocative, and b) the farewell-bidding and wish-giving ones.Actions classified under group a) experience obvious changes, reaching as far as the very purport of these symbolic actions. More pointedly, demonstration of hostility or provocations of showing specific abilities or providing specific services, etc. gradually develop into new meanings: instead of competition between the two parties the signs of mutual flattery appear. Contact-based symbolic actions of the farewell-bidding and wish-giving type remained unchanged from the point of view of their purport. Status-giving actions symbolise the altered states of the young couple: the boy and girl pass into adulthood, they are given new obligations, etc. The present enquiry shows that the status-giving symbolic actions imply the status of the following three types: a) status change; b) wish for a status change; and c) status destruction. Featured by the removal or re-pinning of symbolic signs, the a) type actions chiefly involve the young couple, demonstrating that the boyish/girlish status has changed. The b) type actions basically concern PAMERGĖS (bride's maids of honour) (sometimes - PABROLIAI (groom's men). It is to them that the symbols are temporarily "handed down" (putting of a bridal veil) on the PAMERGĖ's head or carrying an arch-gate to the neighbours). Indeed, all these symbolic actions may be translated into wishes and hints implying that it is high time to marry, in other words, to change one's current status. Symbolic actions involving the destruction or making the place free from a matchmaker or a SVOČIA (matron of honour) imply the dismissal of these wedding characters. Judging by respondents' appreciative attitude to the wedding ceremony, it is possible to argue that a wedding may not be viewed as a holiday involving a close circle of family members. The character of a party held to mark the event also supports this finding.Wedding parties were mostly organised on a big or medium-scale. Not only family members but also friends and colleagues at work were invited to join the bride's /groom's PULKAS. This tendency lost its force in the 8t h decade of the 20th c. Differences between the young couple and their parents concerning the scale (and also the character) of the party became prominent. Although younger people were inclined towards a small party, the party would often develop into a full-size event on the parents' initiative. The 9t h decade, in contrast to the previous one, brought more agreement between parents and children on the issue of party's character. What is more, young people tended towards organising a traditional party. On the other hand, the 9l h decade saw an increased number of cases when young people placed their applications for marriage registration at the Register Office first and only later informed their parents about the pending event. This usually showed young people's wish to avoid a large-scale party, or their parents' disapproval of the marriage, etc. Besides, following the introduction of civil registration, a new obligatory form of marriage solemnisation integrated into the wedding ceremony. Gradually it turned into an important wedding constituent. Religious people were married in church yet they were unwilling to make the ceremony too conspicuous. Consequently, marriage celebrated in church failed to form an integral part of a wedding ceremony till the restitution of Lithuania's independent statehood. [From the publication]