CHTHONIC IMAGES IN TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF THE RUSSIANS OF GORNY ALTAI: TRANSFORMATION AND LOCAL FEATURES

This study explores the use and transformation of chthonic images, specifically snakes and frogs, in the Old Believer tradition of the Russians in Gorny Altai. The research combines folklore materials, field observations, and written sources, which had not previously been represented in the academic sphere, and utilizes historical and ethnographic methods. Snake images are often associated with negative human qualities in various folklore genres, while frog images are associated with ugliness or slowness. These images appear in folk practices for avoiding snakes, treating snake bites and illnesses such as tonsillitis and back pain, and in riddles and handicrafts. The Christian content of these images is prevalent, but the perception of them varies among different local groups and individuals. It can range from seeing them as personifications of sin and posthumous punishment to viewing them as neutral creatures of nature. In the modern tradition of the Uimon Old Believers, the perception of chthonic images is milder than in the now extinct tradition of the Turochak Old Believers. This study represents the first time that the features of using chthonic images and their transformation in the Old Believer tradition have been analyzed and documented in such detail.

Russians, Gorny Altai, Old Believers, images of a serpent and a frog, traditional culture, folklore