The Tuvan Family and its Functions. Traditions and Innovations
https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-28-6-159-171
Abstract
The article aims to discover and analyze the changes which have taken place in the domestic life of Tuvans over the past century, with special emphasis laid on the present times. The paper deals with actual changes that reflect the overall situation and transformations in the cognitive sphere (views, attitudes and values). The analysis of the problem is based on a number of studies by preceding researchers, corresponding sociological, demographic data and field materials of the author.
The family traditionally holds a high position in the social values framework of the Tuvan community and has always been a key value of the nation. However, the decline in demographic rates taking place in the Republic of Tuva indicates changes in family-marital relationships in particular and the family as such in general.
Nowadays, the modern type of family is more typical of urban population while country dwellers, some Tozhu Tuvans and the Dukha (Tsaatan) people in Mongolia prefer the traditional one. Moreover, the last three groups demonstrate their commitment to the traditional way of life and values which undergo intensive transformation in towns and urban-type settlements. The mentioned process causes, e. g., modification of family functions or even disappearance of some of them and emergence of new ones.
On the whole, it is hard to make any conclusions about whatsoever consequences (positive or negative) of the changes within the modern Tuvan society. This actually resembles a double-edged sword which could be well illustrated by the following example.
A powerful incentive to the above-mentioned transformation was given by the growth of women’s social activities. It caused changes in relationships between husband and wife, redistribution of their duties in the family. Certainly, this fact may be considered as a very positive social achievement, especially for women themselves. But, on the other hand, new roles and positions entailed changes in their views and attitudes towards marriage, career, childbearing, etc. As a result, there are more family conflicts and less family solidarity.
Present-day Tuvan families face the same problems as those from other regions of Russia: contradiction between the needs and actual income of family members, the necessity to improve financial situation, the growing number of divorces and single parent families, etc.
About the Author
Sergey Subbotin
Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Postgraduate Student, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Postgraduate Student, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russian Federation)
References
1. Ayyzhy E. V., Kongu A. A. Rodoplemennye gruppy tuvintsev Todzhinskogo rayona Respubliki Tuva na sovremennom etape (po materialam polevykh issledovaniy) [Today’s Tuvan tribal groups of the Todzha region of the Republic of Tuva (based on field studies)]. Vestnik Chuvashskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta im. I. Ya. Yakovleva [I. Yakovlev Chuvash State Pedagogical University Bulletin], No. 4 (80), part 1, Cheboksary, 2013, pp. 3–10 (In Russ.).
2. Ayyzhy E. V., Bazyrchap A.-Kh. O. Obryady i obychai, svyazannye s kul’tami prirody u tuvintsev Respubliki Tyva RF, Kitaya, Mongolii v nachale XXI veka (sravnitel’nyy aspekt) [Ceremonies and customs associated with nature cults of the Tuvans living in Tuva Republic (Russia), China and Mongolia in the early 21st century]. Vestnik KemGU [Bulletin of Kemerovo State University], No. 3 (55), vol. 1, Kemerovo, 2013, pp. 18–23 (In Russ.).
3. Vaynshteyn S. I. Rol’ zhenshchiny v tuvinskikh narodnykh traditsiyakh (o svobode zhenshchiny u kochevnikov tsentra Azii) [The role of the woman in Tuvan folk traditions (on women’s freedom among nomads of Asia’s center)]. Zhenshchina i svoboda: puti vybora v mire traditsiy i peremen. Mat-ly Mezhd. konf. [The Woman and Freedom: Paths of Choice in the World of Traditions and Changes. Proc. of the Internat.conf. 1993]. Moscow, 1994, pp. 411–416 (In Russ.).
4. Vaynshteyn S. I. Tuvintsy-todzhintsy. Istoriko-etnograficheskie ocherki [The Tozhu Tuvans. Historical and ethnographic sketches]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1961, 218 p. (In Russ.).
5. Volkov G. N., Salchak K. B., Shaaly A. S. Etnopedagogika tuvinskogo naroda [Tuvan ethnopedagogics]. Kyzyl, Bilig Publ., 2009, 212 p. (In Russ.).
6. Goncharova G. S., Savel’ev L. Ya. Semeyno-brachnye otnosheniya u narodov Sibiri: problemy, tendentsii, perspektivy [Family and marital relations among the peoples of Siberia: problems, trends, prospects]. Novosibirsk, Nonparel Publ., 2004, 288 p. (In Russ.).
7. Grebnev L. V. Tuvinskiy geroicheskiy epos: opyt istoriko-etnograficheskogo analiza [The Tuvan heroic epic: an effort of historical and ethnographic analysis]. Moscow, Vost. Lit. Publ., 1960, 147 p. (In Russ.).
8. Dorzhu Z. Yu. Aktual’nye problemy zanyatosti zhenshchin Tuvy v usloviyakh perekhoda k rynochnym otnosheniyam [The actual employment problems of women in Tuva during the economic transition period]. «Uchenye zapiski» Tuvinskogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta yazyka, literatury i istorii [Scholarly Notes of Tuvan Research Institute of Language, Literature and History], iss. XVIII, Kyzyl, 1995, pp. 14–23 (In Russ.).
9. Zabelina G. A. Zhenshchiny Tuvy v sem’e i obshchestve v pervoy polovine XX veka [Tuvan women in the family and society from the early to mid 20th cent.]. Kyzyl, Publ. Dept. of Tuvan Institute for Comprehensive Development of Natural Resources (affiliated with the Siberian Branch of the RAS), 2010, 120 p. (In Russ.).
10. Kon F. Ya. Ekspeditsiya v Soyotiyu. Za pyat’desyat let. T. 3 [An expedition to Soyotia. (Observations made) in 50 years. Vol. 3]. Moscow, Publ. House of Association of Political Ex-Convicts and Exiled Individuals, 1934, 293 p. (In Russ.).
11. Kurbatskiy G. N. Tuvintsy v svoem fol’klore (istoriko-etnograficheskie aspekty tuvinskogo fol’klora) [Tuvans in their national folklore (historical and ethnographic aspects of Tuvan folklore)]. Kyzyl, Tuvan Book Publ., 2001, 464 p. (In Russ.).
12. Mongush M. V. Tuvintsy Rossii, Mongolii, i Kitaya: etnicheskie i etnokul’turnye protsessy, sovremennaya identichnost’: diss. ... dokt. istor. nauk [Tuvans of Russia, Mongolia and China: ethnic and ethnocultural processes, present-day identity. A Ph. D. thesis]. Moscow, 2005, 361 p. (In Russ.).
13. Munzuk T. T. Progressivnye idei i opyt tuvinskoy narodnoy pedagogiki i ikh ispol’zovanie v semeynom vospitanii: avtoreferat diss. ... kand. pedagogicheskikh nauk [Progressive ideas, experience of Tuvan folk pedadogics and their application in modern education. A Ph. D. thesis abstract]. Kazan, 1990, 16 p. (In Russ.).
14. Potapov L. P. Materialy po etnografii tuvintsev rayonov Mongun-taygi i Kara-Kholya [Materials on the ethnography of Tuvans residing in Mongun-Tayga and Kara-Khol Districts]. Trudy Tuvinskoy kompleksnoy arkheologo-etnograficheskoy ekspeditsii. T. 1. Materialy po arkheologii i etnografii Zapadnoy Tuvy [Transactions of the Tuvan expedition for comprehensive archaeological and ethnographic studies. Vol. 1. Materials on the archaeology and ethnography of Western Tuva]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1960, pp. 171–237 (In Russ.).
15. Potapov L. P. Ocherki narodnogo byta tuvintsev [Sketches on the traditional way of life of the Tuvans]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1969, 401 p. (In Russ.).
16. Rad’ko T. N., Grebnev L. S., Kovalkin V. S., Fokina N. I. Obshchestvoznanie: uchebnoe posobie [Social science. A textbook]. Moscow, Prospekt Publ., 2015, 520 p. (In Russ.).
17. Reznikov E. N., Tovuu N. O. Etnopsikhologicheskie kharakteristiki naroda tyva: teoriya i praktika [Ethnopsychological characteristics of the Tuvan people: theory and practice]. Moscow, Per Se Publ., 2002, 223 p. (In Russ.).
18. Seren P. S. Tuvintsy — olenevody Mongolii (materialy po yazyku i kul’ture) [Tuvan reindeer breeders of Mongolia (language and culture)]. Kyzyl, Tyvapoligraf Publ., 2016, 160 p. (In Russ.).
19. Sunduy G. D. Mir detstva kochevoy Azii: opyt dukhovno-nravstvennogo vospitaniya [Childhood in Asia: experience of spiritual and moral upbringing]. Kyzyl, National School Development Institute, 2009, 168 p. (In Russ.).
20. Territorial’nyy organ Federal’noy sluzhby gosudarstvennoy statistiki po Respublike Tyva [elektronnyy resurs] [Regional Office of Russian Federal Statistics Service in the Tyva Republic]. Available at: http://tuvastat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/tuvastat/resources/998235804c8ab1d5a334b37dff7d05ed/OSNOVNYE+DEMOGRAFIChESKIE+POKAZATELI.htm (accessed: 17 November 2016) (In Russ.).
21. Subbotin S. V. Sotsial’noe polozhenie zhenshchiny v traditsionnom obshchestve tuvintsev: povsednevnost’ i issledovatel’skie narrativy [The social position of women in the traditional society of Tuva: everyday life and research narratives]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta (Moscow University Bulletin), Ser. 8 —History, No. 2, Moscow, 2016, pp. 109–120 (In Russ.).
22. Tovuu N. O. Psikhologicheskiy oblik tuvinskogo naroda [The psychological appearance of the Tuvan people]. Kyzyl, Tuvan State Univ. Press, 2009, 230 p. (In Russ.).
23. Tovuu N. O. Psikhologicheskie kharakteristiki sem’i etnosa tyva [Psychological characteristics of seven Tuvan sub-ethnic groups]. Moscow, State Univ. of Management Press, 2001, 210 p. (in Russ.).
24. Churilova E. V., Chumarina V. Zh. Vnebrachnye rozhdeniya i dobrachnye zachatiya v Rossii: osoznannoe reshenie roditeley [Illegitimate births and antenuptial conceptions in Russia: conscious parenting]. Voprosy statistiki [Questions of Statistics journal], No. 7, Moscow, 2014, pp. 43–49. Available at: (http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2014/0619/analit03.php#_ftn1) (accessed: 16 November 2016) (In Russ.).
25. Shneyder L. B. Psikhologiya semeynykh otnosheniy. Kurs lektsiy [Psychology59
26. f family relations. A course of lectures]. Moscow, EKSMO-Press, 2000, 498 p. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Subbotin S. The Tuvan Family and its Functions. Traditions and Innovations. Oriental Studies. 2016;9(6):159-171. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-28-6-159-171
Views:
655
Email this article 