Vaiko gimties socialinio įteisinimo papročiai

LTMano tiriama tema - vaiko gimimo socialinio įteisinimo papročiai. Jie apima pirmuosius vaiko gyvenimo mėnesius, rečiau metus. Davido Cressy teigimu, krikštas buvo ne tik bažnyčios sakramentas, bet ir socialinis veiksmas. Ši ceremonija kūrė kaimynystės, bendruomenės ir giminystės ryšius, kartu turėdama religinę reikšmę vaikui, šeimai ir parapijai (Cressy 1999: 149). Šiuos žodžius galima vartoti ne tik būtuoju laiku. Per krikštynas ir net per civilines vardynas formuojami socialiniai lokalinės bendruomenės ir giminystės ryšiai, kurie kiekvienoje bendruomenėje ir net šeimoje gali skirtis. Gali gyvuoti visokių būdų pažymėti socialinį naujojo visuomenės nario pripažinimą. Toks požiūris skatina atskleisti trisdešimt devynių Dzūkijos ir Suvalkijos vietovių papročius. [Iš teksto, p. 17]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Gimtuvės; Krikštas; Krikštynos; Krikštatėviai; Papročiai; Tyrimai; Dzūkai; Suvalkiečiai; Dzūkija; Suvalkija; Birth; Baptism; Christening; Godparents; Customs; Research; Dzūkians; Suvalkians; Dzūkija; Suvalkija; Lithuania.

ENEthnologists always find it interesting to compare cultures of economically different regions. Already in the interwar period Dzūkija was distinguished among other Lithuanian regions by a more extensive level of agriculture whereas Suvalkija (without Klaipėda Region) was characterised by a more intensive agriculture and economic conditions as well. Those reasons (in addition to historical and geopolitical circumstances) might have contributed to a different cohesion of villages in those areas. It affected social relationships within communities and securing of continuity of traditions. Ethnological studies indicate that villages which were not divided into one-family farms (homesteads) have preserved older customs and the traditional community of a village controlled interactions of people for a longer time. Settlements of collective farms and Soviet farms established during the Soviet occupation uniformed lifestyles in both regions. An intensive atheistic propaganda pursued by the Soviet authorities also influenced changes in customs and decline in regional distinctions. The present study analyzes customs of social legitimisation of the child's birth and the question is whether there are differences between regional customs of Dzūkija and Suvalkija in the late twentieth - twenty-first centuries. Baptism and even civil rites of name-giving practiced in the Soviet period shaped social relationships of the local community and family. Regional differences of the process will be analyzed also focusing on peculiarities of different ethnic groups. The main source of the study is the ethnographic field investigation conducted in 2006-2007 by the author. Forty-five female respondents born in 1951-1985 who had 98 children in 1974-2007 (and had them baptised) were interviewed in 39 localities based on an ethnographic questionnaire 'The Ceremonies of Baptism and Name-Giving'.All of the respondents are Lithuanians from Suvalkija and in the eastern part of Dzūkija the author also interviewed Polish respondents and one Belarus in Dieveniškės. All the respondents are Catholics, except for one Slavic Evangelical Lutheran. The study analysed motivation, timing and attitude towards baptism, opinions regarding how soon a child should be baptised, criteria for choosing godparents and reasons of refusing to act as a godparent, the shape of a baptismal shirt and its ritual significance. Various baptismal- related rituals were discussed, e.g. a party held for the occasion, the role of its participants, the view on how long one should take care of his or her godchildren and the occasions when the latter should be visited by the godparents. Furthermore, the data was compared with the research conducted by the author in 2002-2004 using the same methods in Aukštaitija ethnographic region and other localities of Merkinė (Varėna Region), Vilnius city and North Poland (Punsk and Seinai). All of them reveal customs of social Iegitimisation of the child's birth from the second half of the twentieth to early twenty-first century. In terms of a diachronic analysis the research into baptismal customs of the late nineteenth century - the first half of the twentieth century conducted by the author and other ethnologists is highly significant. A summary of the present-day baptismal customs in Dzūkija and Suvalkija regions proves that they have both common and unique regional features characteristic to the culture of the late twentieth - early twenty-first century. Three factors have been distinguished analyzing reasons for baptismal ordinances: 1) Christian necessity; 2) family tradition, 3) pressure on the part of the infant's grandparents. In the absolute majority of cases the first factor prevails as it was indicated by all the respondents from Suvalkija and most of Dzūkija residents.Certain regional differences were established regarding the belief when a child should be baptised. Although there is a prominent belief in both regions that a child of one or six months should be baptised, a number of Suvalkians prefer to hold baptismal ordinances when an infant is merely a week old and some Dzūkians choose to baptise a one-year old child. However, the Suvalkians who baptised their children at a later time still indicated that baptism should take place much earlier and the Dzūkians indicated the same time as their children were baptised or even a later period. Notably Dzūkians tend to baptise their children earlier. When selecting godparents in both regions the priority is given to relatives whereas friends are invited less often. Nearly a half of the respondents in both regions claim that one must not refuse to act as a godparent. Although the number of those who said that a refusal was quite possible was higher in Suvalkija. The latter region also provided more reasons of a refusal. In South Lithuania traditionally the baptismal shirt made of a material shaped in a certain way still prevail whereas in Suvalkija the baptismal shirt of a traditional shape is gradually being replaced by a new shape of the baptismal shirt, i.e. a cloak or a mantle. The analysis of the value of the baptismal shirt and views on a possibility to borrow such shirt reveals regional differences between Zanavykija (similarly to North Aukštaitija) which quickly acquires novelties of the modern culture and Dzūkija (its counterpart would be Eastern Aukštaitija) which has preserved a traditional view concerning the baptismal shirt. The areas inhabited by an ethnic group of Kapsai as well as some localities of Dzūkija might be referred to as a transitional area. [From the publication]