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@article{JEF, author = {Merili Metsvahi}, title = { The Woman as Wolf (AT 409): Some Interpretations of a Very Estonian Folk Tale}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {7}, number = {2}, year = {2014}, keywords = {fairy tale; legend; wolf; werewolf; women; Finnic folklore}, abstract = {The article analyses tale type The Woman as Wolf, which is one of the most popular folk tales in the Estonian Folklore Archives and is represented there both in the form of a fairy tale and in the form of a legend. The vast majority of the versions of The Woman as Wolf were written down in the first part of the 20th century within Estonia and where recorded from Estonians. The article introduces the content of the tale, the origin of the first records from the early 19th century, and the dissemination area of the tale, which remains outside Western Europe: apart from the Estonian versions there are Sami, Karelian, Vepsian, Livonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian versions. While in almost all the Estonian versions the main protagonist is transformed into a wolf, in most of the versions written down in other areas and ethnic groups, another animal or bird replaces the wolf. The author is of the opinion that the Finnic area is central to the distribution of the folk tale The Woman as Wolf. The animal the woman is transformed into in the plot would not have been a wolf in earlier times. The article provides an explanation why the wolf is predominant in Estonian written sources. For that purpose the ways in which the wolf and werewolf were perceived in earlier Estonian folk belief are introduced. At the end of the article interpretation of the folk tale is provided. The author states that the plot and some of the motifs found in this folk tale reflect the difficulties women had in submitting to the norms and values of patriarchal order within their society.}, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {65–92}, url = {https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/153} }

@article{JEF, author = {Tatiana Bulgakova}, title = { Contest in Nanai Shamanic Tales}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {9}, number = {1}, year = {2015}, keywords = {folklore; shamanism; Siberia; Nanai; contest; shamanic games; inter-shamanic conflict}, abstract = {The tale motif of the shamanic tale competition is examined with due regard for the interpretation given by the Nanai storyteller-shamans from the standpoint of their personal spiritual experience. In shamanic practice it is not the personal ability (skill or physical power) that provides a challenger victory in conflict, but obtaining spirits-helpers more powerful than those of his or her rival. The predominate role of these fantastic personages/helpers in tales that represent invisible spirit helpers perform real shamanic praxis, explains the loser’s unconditional submission and readiness to sacrifice their freedom or life to the winner. It also clarifies the motivation of the initiators of these contests and games: by means of gathering a great number of competitors, such shamans solve their personal spiritual problems, such as the need to overcome their adversaries or find allies in the struggle against their opponents.}, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {61–79}, url = {https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/189} }

Overview about the 7th Semiosis and Culture Conference organised in May 2010 by the Komi State Pedagogical Institute in Syktyvkar, Republic of Komi, Russia.

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@article{JEF, author = {Laur Vallikivi}, title = { What Does Matter?: Idols and Icons in the Nenets Tundra}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {5}, number = {1}, year = {2011}, keywords = {Nenets; Pentecostalism; missionaries; iconoclasm; materiality}, abstract = {This paper examines a mission encounter in the Nenets reindeer herders’ tundra. In post-Soviet Arctic Russia, Pentecostal and Baptist missionaries of Russian and Ukrainian origin have been fighting against idolatry and trying to persuade the Nenets to burn their sacred images or khekhe’’. They claim that among the indigenous Siberians idolatry exists in its quintessential or prototypical form, as it is described in the Bible. I shall suggest that this encounter takes place in a gap, in which the Nenets and Protestant have different understandings of language and materiality. Missionaries rely simultaneously on the ‘modern’ ideology of signification and the ‘non-modern’ magic of the material. They argue that idols, which are ‘nothing’ according to the scriptures, dangerously bind the ‘pagans’’ minds. For reindeer herders, for whom sacred items occupy an important place in the family wellbeing, the main issue is how to sever the link with the spirits without doing any damage.}, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {75–95}, url = {https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/70} }

@article{JEF, author = {Tiina Sepp}, title = { Pilgrimage and Pilgrim Hierarchies in Vernacular Discourse: Comparative Notes from the Camino de Santiago and Glastonbury}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, year = {2014}, keywords = {Camino de Santiago; Glastonbury; pilgrimage; pilgrim hierarchy; energy.}, abstract = { This article is based on my fieldwork conducted in two important destinations in the spiritual landscape of European vernacular religion – the Camino de Santiago (pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela) in northern Spain, and Glastonbury in southwest England. In this comparison between modern expressions of pilgrimage, I look into the power relationships that exist on the pilgrimage, describe how hierarchies of pilgrims are created and maintained, and reflect on the meaning of the words pilgrim and pilgrimage. The co-existence of the different belief systems of Christianity and New Age and the conflicts and tension between them will be explored. I will also examine discourse around competing male and female energies. }, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {23–52}, url = {https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/129} }

The article analyses Pomor and Izhma Komi identities. The Pomor and Izhma Komi, who live in the European north of Russia, practically lost their identity during the 20th century and are currently undergoing a process of re-identification. The authors delve into the reasons and circumstances stimulating this process of re-identification, analyse which social groups are the initiators of this process and what is the content of Pomorian and Izhma identity today.

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Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

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Preface to the Special Issue “Religion and the Re-identification of Ethnic Groups”.

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Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

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In literature about missionary activities in western Siberia in the 19th – early 20th century, the natives are seen as passive recipients of the missionaries’ initiative, as victims of their endeavours. This article intends to present another view of the encounter, showing firstly why this erroneous vision developed and secondly how the Khanty and the Nenets are actually active in the interaction. It shows how in both cases, either by accepting or by refusing, the natives follow their own interests and their own decisions without submitting to stronger constraint against their will. While those who refused to accept the missionaries’ endeavours clearly expressed their independence, those who chose to convert did it sincerely, although their understanding of Christianity did not match the missionaries’ expectations. They did it for conscious reasons, not just yielding to the missionaries’ wishes but often being themselves the initiators. For them, Christianity is integrated in a worldview that is not based on dual oppositions. Therefore, while representatives of official Christianity do not see these natives as real Christians, they consider themselves to be so.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, the author(s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) under the following conditions: 1. they must attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor, 2. they may not use this contribution for commercial purposes, 3. they may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Authors retain the following rights:

– copyright, and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,

– the right to use the substance of the article in future own works, including lectures and books,

– the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,

– the right to self-archive the article.

@article{JEF, author = {Aimar Ventsel}, title = { Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {6}, number = {1}, year = {2013}, keywords = {book review}, abstract = {Book review of the publication Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations. Edited by Gary Backhaus and John Murungi. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, Lexington Books, 2006, xxxiii+241 pp. }, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {123–124}, url = {https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/121} }

@article{JEF, author = {Indrek Jääts}, title = { Favourite Research Topics of Estonian Ethnographers under Soviet Rule}, journal = {Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics}, volume = {13}, number = {2}, year = {2019}, keywords = {history of ethnology; nationalism; Estonia; Soviet Union}, abstract = {Estonian ethnography as one of the Estonia-related disciplines was tied with Estonian nationalism from the very beginning. Defined as a science investigating mainly the material side of vanishing traditional peasant culture in the 1920s, it fitted rather well with the Soviet understanding of ethnography as a sub discipline of history. Thanks to the major cooperation projects initiated and coordinated by ethnographers from Moscow, Soviet Estonian ethnographers could continue studying Estonian traditional peasant culture. Their favourite research topics (folk costume, peasant architecture and traditional agriculture) supported Estonian national identity, but also suited the framework of Soviet ethnography. Studying contemporary (socialist) everyday life was unpopular among Estonian ethnographers because the results had to justify and support Soviet policy. They did so unwillingly, and avoided it completely if possible. Despite of some interruption during the Stalin era, ethnography managed to survive as a science of the nation in Soviet Estonia.}, issn = {2228-0987}, pages = {1–15}, url = {https://jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/317} }