Food in the context of wedding rituals acts as an integrating symbol designed to unite the parties of the bride and groom, to create a new group of relatives. The culinary code is used to model the fertility and wealth of young people. Bread and salt of the wedding feast are a symbol of wealth and love attraction, and also perform protective functions. Game and egg in the wedding ceremony are certain markers of mythological time.
Key words: wedding ceremony, food symbolism.
All the rituals of the Komi (Zyryan) wedding ceremony end with feasts that emphasize the importance of the event not only for the family circle, but also for the entire society. The food code of culture is the most important component of the traditional picture of the world, a cultural marker that is significant for the self-identification of an ethnic group. Ritual food is interpreted as the most convenient way to symbolize ritual transformations. This is explained by the fact that out of the whole set of symbols involved in the ritual, only food is represented by a complete cycle - from cooking to destruction/absorption, which clearly demonstrates the transformation of natural, natural products into cultural ones [Baiburin, 1993, pp. 86-87].
The purpose of the work is to consider the meaning of food in the context of wedding rituals, defining its symbolic content. The study covers the first half of the XX century - a time of sustainable preservation of traditional culture. The paper is based on field materials collected in the districts of the Komi Republic at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries using a questionnaire specially developed by the author, as well as materials obtained in the middle of the XX century and deposited in the Scientific Archive of the Komi Scientific Center (at the KSC). Uranus.
At the Komi (Zyryan) matchmakers did not sit down at the common table until the bride's parents let them know that they were not against their proposal. It was believed that if you sit at the samova ...
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