The Youth Festival “Oytulaash” in the Traditional Culture of Tuvans

Abstract

The article discusses the symbolic nature of traditional games of Tuvan youth festival “Oytulaash”. The author concludes that being a relic of the initiation rites and chaotic group marriage, these games were aimed at evoking the fruitful forces of nature and a man. One of the objectives of the article is to show the wealth of the Tuvan folklore. It should be noted that the youth festival “Oytulaash” had existed long before the formation period of the Tuvan People’s Republic. Later it became obsolete in Tuvan society as an alien element. Traditional holiday “Oytulaash” was aimed at provoking reproductive forces of nature and man. Scientific studies show that “Oytulaash” as a phenomenon of culture of the people, had its positive and negative points. The positive effects can be attributed to the fact that during these public festivals, the young people had a rest from everyday work, were happy to live through cold winter and all spring work was behind. The analysis of folk games in traditional festivals allows identifying with the layers of later development an archaic gaming culture, dating back to the early forms of traditional worldview and culture of the Tuvan people. It should be noted that cultural links with the Tuvan peoples of China and Mongolia had an influence on the formation and structure of the traditional games. Youth games including pet games symbolized fertility and conveyed the idea of well-being and prosperity of the whole clan. The traditional festive culture of the Tuvan people was associated with the transformation into a different creature; something that was unacceptable became acceptable, thus, contributing to the successful functioning of the society’s life activity.