Childbirth Related Rules and Standarts of Conduct in Bashkir Traditional Culture

Introduction. The article examines behavioral patterns of pregnant women, introduction of a newborn into the family and community within the framework of traditional Bashkir culture. The goal of the research is to delineate rules to be observed by a pregnant woman and her relatives in prenatal and postnatal periods. Methods. The research applies descriptive, comparative historical, and typological methods. Results. The work employs a comprehensive approach which includes analyses of scholarly papers in folklore studies, ethnography, collected field data, and available publications. The obtained results show that the category of age constitutes an essential part in the culture of communication. In traditional society, individual behavior and social contacts were largely determined by age. Each nation has its own perception of time, and traditional etiquette is closely related to such representations. In the traditional culture of Bashkirs, the health of mother and child was believed to be determined by whether certain prenatal and postnatal rituals, rules of conduct and etiquette established by transition ceremonies were observed. The first days of a child’s life witnessed quite a number of ceremonies connected to the ‘for-the-first time’ category; once the latter were duly observed, the status of the newborn was fixed, established, and corresponding rules of conduct defined. That was accompanied by the use of material, verbal and nonverbal means of influence on the baby. The numerous ceremonies performed since the first days were programmed to delineate somewhat required standards of behavior in the family and society. At each stage of the child’s way into adulthood he / she was patronized and mentored by a family or community member. Similar ties were established with those who took part in the shaving of prenatal hair, cutting of fetters, witnessed the emergence the first milk tooth, etc. So, subsequently in everyday life the child communicated with the latter as if those were close relatives. Such individuals had the right to instruct the child, deliver sermons, and ask for his / her help. In traditional culture, special significance was attached to the name-giving ceremony. Names were viewed as conductors of good and evil believed capable of determining an individual’s future. Once fixed right after the birth, the name performed protective, predictive, and informative functions. It was closely connected with moral and aesthetic qualities of the individual. Subsequent changes in status resulted in that the individual gradually lost his / her given name, and people around replaced it with terms of relationship. On the one hand, names performed a protective function, and on the other hand, proved a most vulnerable part of personality, which is attested to by the ban on pronouncing personal names as such. Conclusions. The examined research materials show that in traditional society the introduction of a newborn into family and society was based on ancient views, Moslem doctrine, and life-cycle representations of the Bashkirs. The first forty days of life were regulated by strict bans and instructions. Those were days of bidding farewell to signs of ‘otherness’: they buried the afterbirth, made an amulet of the umbilical cord, etc. During the period the new member of the community was being hominified’, i.e., the child acquired patrons, received a name, and was granted attributes of the external world.

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