Spirit Possession in a Present-Day Russian Village

Authors

  • Olga Khristoforova Centre for Typological and Semiotic Folklore Studies, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/folklorica.v15i0.4024

Abstract

The article is based on the data collected in the period from 1999 to 2005 during the author’s field work among the Old-Believers of the Urals and Udmurtia (Verkhokam’e historical region). The author examines beliefs in spirit possession which have existed in this region since at least the beginning of XVIII century. Local synonymous terms for spirit possession are ikota and poshibka. In the present-day Verkhokam’e one can find not only а large corpus of folkloric memorates about ikota/poshibka, but also actual persons who consider themselves to be possessed by or to have ikota. Other persons in their social environment share this diagnosis.

The author analyzes a large number of folkloric memorates about ikota as well as interviews with possessed persons. She reviews the semantics, pragmatics, and social functions of ideas about spirit possession in the Verkhokam’e.

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Published

2010-10-25

Issue

Vol. 15 (2010): Folklorica

Section

Articles

License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication. Their work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Derivative License (CC BY ND) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. You can find more information about the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Derivative License (CC BY ND) here. 

How to Cite

Khristoforova, Olga. 2010. “Spirit Possession in a Present-Day Russian Village”. FOLKLORICA - Journal of the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association 15 (October). https://doi.org/10.17161/folklorica.v15i0.4024.