Bashkir Traditional Culture: Semiotic Functions of National Costumes

Goals: The article studies traditional costumes in material and spiritual culture of the Bashkir people. The national clothes endowed with certain meanings would perform various sign functions thus determining differences in behavior and communication.
The paper aims to identify and describe the mentioned sign functions of Bashkir clothes within a wide range of identities, including ethnic, geographical, gender, age, social ones, etc.
Methods: Descriptive, structurally functional, comparative and typological research methods have been applied to identify semantic values of clothes in the Bashkir traditional culture and define the social relations attached to clothes, including affiliations with certain groups and typological parallels with other nations.
Results: The research applies an integrated approach involving a comprehensive analysis of historical, philosophical, ethnographic works, and collected field data.
The national costume had been endowed with certain semantic interpretations and showed a status of its owner, basically corresponding to beauty ideals accepted within a separate ethnic environment. The language of clothes indicated ethnic origins, gender, age, marital and social status of the interlocutor, including his / her belonging to a certain generation, his / her actual life cycle.
The color map, fashion, ornaments and jewelry manifested the traditional beliefs about the universe, showed religious affiliation. Any detail of clothes was historically, mythologically, and economically — from household and practical perspectives — reasonable. The generation (life-cycle) affiliation was most vividly shown in dresses. Bright colors and diverse jewelry were typical for youth clothes, those of childbearing-aged women. Children’s garments contained a minimum of components. Reserved color scales and less jewelry characterize suits of elderly and aged women. Each element of clothes coupled with others conveyed an individual text to characterize the owner.
Traditional society laid special emphasis upon clothes since any discrepancies gave rise to condemnation, sometimes mockery. Handling with different elements of clothes was closely connected with ancient beliefs, ideas about vital force, happiness, wellbeing (Bash. ‘ҡот’ / ‘qot’) therefore lucky clothes were not to be donated, men’s costumes were not to be used in household activities. Clothes of authoritative elderly people were used to extend their stamina, longevity, health to subsequent generations.
The traditional etiquette, customs and traditions maintained such clothes-related practices that corresponded to practical, religious, sacral, esthetic, and ethical representations.
Conclusions: In traditional society, costumes were a source of information, allowed to define unmistakably the gender, age, marital and social status, geographical, tribal, and even economic affiliations. All sign functions of clothes, being reference points, served as a criterion to pose the interlocutor within the binary opposition ‘we’ / ‘they’, facilitated regulation activities within family and society. The traditional costume served to transmit ethnic knowledge from one generation to another.

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