Release date is 2020-09-27

Tapio Riikonen

"Mordvalaisten, tsheremissien ja votjakkien kosinta- ja häätavoista" by Albert Hämäläinen is a comparative study written in the early 20th century. This academic work explores the marriage and courtship customs of three Finno-Ugric peoples: the Mordvins, the Komis, and the Mari. It aims to fill a gap in the literature concerning the customs of these ethnic groups, with a focus on how their practices relate to those of neighboring cultures. The opening of the work outlines the author's methodology and objectives, emphasizing the scarcity of systematic studies in this area. Hämäläinen discusses the sources of his research, including ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 1908 and 1910 among the Volga Finnish peoples, as well as a wealth of literature from Russian and Finnish libraries. He acknowledges the complexity of properly interpreting these customs due to the blend of tradition and evolving practices, and he expresses gratitude to various academic figures who aided his study. The introduction sets the stage for a detailed examination of courtship rituals, bride kidnapping, and associated rites, reflecting on both historical and contemporary practices among the Mordvins and their neighbors. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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