Cultural Memory in Urban Space: Ufa as a Subcultural Locus of Regional Folklore

The study of folklore is gradually moving beyond the traditional boundaries of its existence. It is known that folklore in general and regional folklore in particular was determined by its presence, its spread in the countryside, in the regions of republics, or regions. Traditional folk art, traditional culture as a whole was born, developed, preserved, and passed on from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation in the village. However, the subculture created in the villages – the culture of the Bashkir people – is transferred by its bearers to the urban environment, especially in the period of active urban movement. The introduction of the study consists in the fact that an attempt was made to identify and study urban Bashkir folklore in its particular post-folkloric manifestation and locus refraction, when yesterday's villagers, who have lived in the city for more than 40–50 years, have preserved in their memory the very folkloric traditions that they have imbibed with their mother's milk in their small homeland – in the villages of the republic's regions. To this end, the working group of the Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after M. Akmulla conducted a folklore expedition through the city of Ufa in the summer of 2022. The relevance of the study is increased by the prospects of the project when it becomes necessary to include the folklore of other large cities of the region in this analysis. The aim of the study is to identify the original Bashkir folklore that has been preserved in the urban environment. To achieve this goal, tasks such as studying and analyzing the materials collected during the expedition were solved, taking into account the degree of their preservation in the memory of the informants, their distinctive features, and originality based on authentic examples. Analytical, textological, and descriptive studies were used as methods. As a result, the samples recorded during the expeditionary journey around Ufa were considered, and the peculiarities and features of the presence of folk songs, takmaks, were revealed. Conclusions. Thus, summing up, the article concludes that locus samples of oral folk art are constantly preserved in the memory of people who have experienced the process of urbanization. In their cultural memory, they draw on the lingering folk songs, takmaks, and legends associated with the traditions of their small homeland.

folklore, post-folklore, urban processes, locus, subculture, people, Bashkir folklore, urban cultural landscape, song, takmaks, informants