E-mail: oxana-fais@yandex.ru Tel.: + 7 (499) 954-93-43
32a, Leninskii ave., Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
PhD in History, Senior Researcher, Center for European Studies, N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences
The article is written in accordance with the research plan of the N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences.
In this article, the author analyzes the current state of a ritual event that is one of the most significant in the worldview of the population of Barbagia, a mountainous area of Sardinia. Sardinia is one of the most culturally conservative regions of Italy, and this is especially the case with Barbagia. This archaic ritual is one of the oldest fertility cults and is conventionally referred to as “Carnival,” both on the island and outside of it. The article is based on the author’s field studies and little-known archival data. In studying the substance of the ritual and its ancient roots, the author also examines its actors, the variants and most archaic forms of their conduct, and analyzes the role of the church in the external Christianization of rites. She also tracks the “autochthonous” components of the ritual as well as the new ones: those that are pagan, those introduced by the church, local and foreign, preserved and reconstructed elements. Attention is also paid to modern practices of reconstruction, including the false reconstruction of tradition in the region, its specific characteristics and consequences. In particular, it describes the transformation of the ritual tradition, which is in demand by the local society, into performances offered to an “alien,” external audience.
Alziator F. (1978) Il Folclore sardo [Sardinian Folklore]. Sassari: Dessì. In Italian.
Ballore R. (2014) Osservazioni sul libro di M. Madau “Mamuthones e Issohadores” [Observations on M. Madau’s Book “Mamuthones and Issohadores”]. In: Associazione Pro Loco Mamoiada.
[Electronic resource]. URL: http:/www.mamoiada.org/_pdf/_mamuthis/Pro-Loco2014. pdf (retrieved: 21.02.2021). In Italian.
Carboni F. (2007) Il segno magico [The Magic Sign]. Cagliari: Cuec. In Italian. Caredda G. P. (1981) Folclore in Sardegna [Folklore in Sardinia]. Genova: SAGEP. In Italian.
Grimaldi P. (2003) Bestie, santi, divinità. Maschere animali nell’Europa tradizionale [Beasts, Saints, Gods: Animal Masks in Traditional Europe]. Torino: Museo nazionale della Montagna. In Italian.
Karpov Yu. (1993) Maska i obraz [Mask and Image]. In: Etnosemiotika ritual′nykh predmetov [Ethnosemiotics of Ritual Objects]. St. Petersbourg: Ministerstvo kul′tury RF. Pp. 16–27. In Russian.
Lilliu G. (2002) La costante resistenziale sarda [The Sardinian Resistance Constant]. Nuoro: Ilisso. In Italian.
Mannia S. (2017) Al gran galà delle maschere.Considerazione sulle pratiche carnevaleche nella Sardegna contemporanea [At the Grand Gala of Masks: Consideration of Carnival Practices in Contemporary Sardinia]. In: Oltre Carnevale: maschere, travestimenti, inversioni [Beyond Carnival: Masks, Disguises, Reversals]. Palermo: Fondazione I. Buttitta. Pp. 119–151. In Italian.
Marzano M. (2009) Cattolicesimo magico. Un’indagine etnografica [Magical Catholicism: An Ethnographic Survey]. Firenze: Bompiani. In Italian.
Maxia A. (2003) Dal Villaggio alla selva. Quaderni del Museo Etnografico di Aritzo [From the Village to the Forest: Notebooks of the Ethnographic Museum of Aritzo]. Palermo: Copygraphic. In Italian.
Maxia C. (2013) Note sul pastoralismo in Sardegna [Notes on Pastoralism in Sardinia]. In: Pastori e comunità a Fonni. Un museo per la storia della cultura pastorale [Shepherds and Communities in Fonni: A Museum of the History of Pastoral Culture]. Fonni: Scuola Sarda. Pp. 46–55. In Italian.
Orrù L. (1999) Maschere e doni, musiche e balli. Carnevale in Sardegna [Masks and Gifts, Music and Dancing: Carnival in Sardinia]. Cagliari: Cuec. In Italian.
Pastoureau M. (2004) Une Histoire symbolique du Moyen Age Occidental [A Symbolic History of the Western Middle Ages]. Paris: Editions du Seuil. In French.
Turchi D. (2018) I carnevali e le maschere tradizionali della Sardegna [Carnivals and Traditional Masks of Sardinia]. Roma: Newton Compton. In Italian. T
urtas R. (1998) Alcune costanti nelle visite pastorali durante il periodo spagnolo [Some Constants in Pastoral Visits During the Spanish Period]. In: Studi in onore di Ottorino Pietro Alberti. Saggi e ricerche, 1 [Studies in Honor of Ottorino Pietro Alberti. Essays and Research, 1]. Cagliari: Facoltà Teologica della Sardegna — Archivio Arcivescovile di Cagliari, Centro Studi “Damiano Filia”. Pp. 201–218. In Italian.
Turtas R. (2000) Storia della Chiesa in Sardegna dalle origini al Duemila [History of the Church in Sardinia from its Origins to the Twentieth Century]. Archivum Historiae Pontificiae. 2000. Vol. 38. Pp. 287–289. In Italian.
Fais O. D. “Carnival” in Sardinia in the Context of Modernity. Traditional Culture. 2021. Vol. 22. No. 3. Pp. 110–122. In Russian.