Tuvan Wedding Rites: from Establishment of Family Ties to Social Presentation

Introduction. Scholarly studies of Tuvan wedding rites date back to the late 19th century, and include quite a number of works by ethnographers, sociologists, and cultural scientists that tended to focused on topics inherent to general stages of Tuvan studies throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The most significant achievement of the latter is detailed descriptions of rites and identification of their place in traditional culture. Goals. The article presents a sociocultural analysis of Tuvan wedding rites, and their past — and present — functions in the social life of the ethnic community. Moreover, such functions of rites have been considered only sporadically. Materials. The study investigates published data and conclusions on wedding rites of past periods, as well as authors’ field materials and observations of Tuvan weddings in the 2000s. The paper also scrupulously describes a full cycle of modern Tuvan wedding rites, and one wedding ceremony held in 2019 in Kyzyl. Results. The article combines available conclusions of researchers for the first time, and presents the general evolution of changes in sociocultural functions. In different periods — from the late 19th century to the present days — Tuvan wedding rites are considered as 1) traditional elements supposed to strengthen family ties between different tribes and help solve some economic issues, 2) means of social legitimization according to Soviet policies of equal rights for men and women, under ‘neolocality’ conditions, 3) modern rites for social presentation which is a combination of various traditions, innovations and borrowings. Conclusions. The current situation is characterized by a number of problems such as excessive theatricalization, significant expenses, specific competition between parties of relatives, waste of gifts, etc.

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