Todays lecture

1
Todays lecture

• Review of steps of the wedding
• Emphasis on gender differences
• Man stays in the home in which he was born until
  he dies
• Woman moves and treated as if dead
• Contrast to American weddings who gains from
  the marriage?
• The pryimak example
• Wedding of the dead
• Old Believer video
• Matriarchy as explanation for marriage patterns

2
Russian weddings (and Ukrainian to a lesser
degree)

• Man and his family gain from the marriage they
  get a worker and she is permanently theirs
• Woman stays with in-laws even if husband dies
  this happened a lot during WWII
• Baba Sanka example
• If widow wants to remarry, needs permission on
  in-laws
• New bride is lowest in status, even below
  sisters-in-law who are her juniors
• Kin terms nevesta gt snokha
• Snokhachestvo

3
Russian wedding American

• Man wants to wed who tries to delay marriage?
• Man gains financially
• Bride-price does not amount to much
• Female farewell to freedom Devichnik (though
  this is a cryfest)
• Woman more interested in sex (Russian jokes)

• Woman more interested in marriage (recall survey)
• Woman gains? Does better in divorce?
• Male farewell to freedom Bachelor party
• Man more interested in sex

4
Importance of motion in space

• Woman moves at marriage and man does not
• This is the basis for her being treated as dead
  recall importance of laments
• Content of laments
• Laments DO exist for young men when they go off
  into the army recruits laments motion again
• Nature of military service

5
Pryimak wedding man moves in with wife

• Under what circumstance?
• Family has girls only and girls cant inherit
• What kind of man do they get to marry one of
  daughters?
• If man moves, is he treated as dead? No. Death
  at marriage associated with women
• Pryimak is treated as adopted son
• Special pre-wedding adoption ritual groom
  symbolically born of mother-in-law
• Wedding is then more or less normal

6
True pryimak story Did Vasyl and Baba Polia

• She is
• older
• than he
• is
• would
• have
• been
• oldmaid

7
Other special cases wedding of the dead

• A young person dies unwed
• Funeral conducted as wedding
• Clothing
• Bread
• Ring (of wax, gold)
• Bridegroom
• This wedding type especially important for women

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True wedding of the dead story Velykyi Khutir
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Why treatment of women and men so different?
Motion in space explanation

• Human supposed to be born in house and die there
• If not, then special treatment
• Russian explorers
• Mendicants
• Itinerant peddlers
• Bride in same category

10
Matriarchy explanation

• More popular in Russia than in the West
• Slavs (and other peoples) were once matriarchal
  society dominated by women
• Communal society no marriage, or group marriage
  
• No property and no questions of inheritance
• Nomadic society?

11
Switch matriarchygtpatriarchy

• Property becomes an issue nomads settle and
  acquire land?
• Leads to desire to know father of child
• Leads to control of womans sex partners
  marriage

12
Evidence of matriarchy

• Laments at marriage
• Sorrow for lost freedom
• Sorrow for loss of idyllic society
• Issue of property in wedding equivalency between
  bride and property of groom
• Rusalka beliefs pregnancy outside marriage is
  bad

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More evidence ancient figurines
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