Preface to the Special Issue: Drinking Is Not Just Fun

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_jef-2016-0007_fn_001_w2aab2b8b2b1b7b1ab1aaAa">*</xref> explores the topic of alcohol consumption in Russia. My fieldwork was conducted in the north of European Russia between 2010 and 2014 in Arkhangelskaya and Vologodskaya oblasts. The main idea of the paper is to look at alcohol drinking through the lens of rites of passage and especially liminality. I argue that the traditional festivities, and alcohol consumption with the traditional type of liminality, were based on a small amount of sugar and money and also the long period of time required to make beer. In 1960s, after <italic>ukrupneniye</italic> and the urbanisation of villages, money and spirits came to the villages. Together with an existing prohibition on ceremonies and rites they created a new permanent liminality of drinking. This new liminality included getting dead drunk and was paradoxically approved by Soviet ideology.</abstract>

Drinking in the North of European Russia: From Traditional to Totalising Liminality

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In my paper I discuss alcoholics in the Russian Baptist rehabilitation ministry by comparing them to drug addicts. In the outside world, as well as in the early stages of the rehabilitation program, alcoholics and illicit drug abusers are perceived as different cultural groups. However, during the program, rehabilitants learn Russian Baptist dogma and theology, and soon afterwards the distinction becomes obsolete for them. I address narratives of distinction and the Russian Baptist response to them. Then I reconstruct the Russian Baptist theory of addiction to demonstrate why alcoholism and substance dependence are not regarded as a problem, but rather as consequences of the real problem, which is a life in sin.</abstract>

“I’m Not Like Most of You Here, I’m Just an Alcoholic”: A Russian Baptist Theory of Addiction

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Although the notion of responsibility is often invoked by mass-media reports, activists and lay people when discussing alcoholism and suicides, anthropological discussions of this topic seem to deliberately avoid the notion. Based on the example of the Taz Nenets of western Sibera, this paper<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_jef-2016-0009_fn_001_w2aab2b8c11b1b7b1ab1aaAa">*</xref> explores how cross-cultural differences in the notion of responsibility, if approached in a non-moralising way, can enrich our understanding of several aspects of the drinking and suicidal behaviours of native northerners. The Nenets seem to believe that both positive and negative events in their lives happen more due to chance or for highly localised reasons that they do not control rather than being caused by their own informed and wilful actions (external locus of control). Particularly, acts of suicide and binge drinking episodes just happen to people and, therefore, people cannot be held responsible for them. This attitude can be a compensatory mechanism for the flat attribution style observed among Nenets in previous studies. It should be taken into account in programs of suicide prevention and the treatment of alcoholism.</abstract>

“Suddenly a Binge Drinking Episode Has Happened to Him”: Locus of Control, Notion of Responsibility, Alcoholism and Suicide in the Taz Region, Yamal Nenets Autonomous Okrug

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_jef-2016-0010_fn_001_w2aab2b8c14b1b7b1ab1aaAa">*</xref> is dedicated to the analysis of alcohol consumption practices within the Koryak ethno-cultural community. The aim of the article is to understand how the reasons for alcohol consumption are explained within the framework of the community. The analysis is based on the ideas of Durkheim’s social theory. The author of the article claims that the practice of consuming alcohol is essentially connected with the more archaic practice of mushroom consumption since both have a grounding in the Koryak perception of the world. The analysed models of behaviour stem from appropriate Koryak epistemology and ontology, which themselves are based on the notion of the ‘other world’ and communication with supernatural entities (spirits). The isomorphism of consuming alcohol and amanita intoxication reflects the inner core of this connection: the Koryak believe that an entity enters the human body and controls their actions. The transition from one type of intoxication to another is accompanied by drastic transformation of the materiality of the consumed product, which, in turn, leads towards social transformations. Such social changes are qualified as anomie by the author of the article. The visual materiality of the amanita mushroom dictated its symbolic anthropomorphism and creation of special rules for the treatment (amanita codex). The physical amorphousness of vodka does not imply the same intellectual work. The author claims that this factor was one of the reasons why the Koryak do not have social regulations about vodka consumption – which leads to mass alcoholism. It is possible that indigenous communities have difficulties in working out the required social regulations because of the complexities surrounding the non-utilitarian treatment of the unusual materiality of vodka.</abstract>

Alcohol Consumption Practices in the Koryak Community

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">When I conducted fieldwork among the Darhad of northern Mongolia my informants repeatedly asserted that after a good singer’s performance even the most badly intoxicated lad stands still and keeps silent. In this article, I make three points in order to explain why this claim was made. In the first one, I show that the main concern about singing performance at social gatherings is not about revealing the singer’s inner emotional realm but rather about crafting a collective feeling that has the ability to make people temporarily shed their otherness and converge. The problem with drunkards lies in the fact that they are unable to participate and even noisily impede this rite of convergence. The main reason is that they are not sufficiently detached from their own inner realm. I then put the concept of noise in context, arguing that it forms the repulsive pole of a Mongolian sonic continuum. In my last point, I stress the fact that according to Mongolian linguistic ideology, noise brings misfortune to the entire community. That is why good singers must win their battle against drunkards.</abstract>

Drunkards and Singers: A Mongolian Battle of Sounds

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_jef-2016-0012_fn_001_w2aab2b8b1b1b7b1ab1aaAa">*</xref> focuses on the recent history and contemporary practice of a kind of traditional tapestry weaving known as <italic>smettvev</italic> in the rural county of Jølster in mountainous western Norway. Jølster has a rich fibre arts tradition and a rapidly changing society and economy, which make it an exemplary study in material culture as its fibre arts transform to accommodate these changes. This article draws on ethnographic research and interviews with representative practitioners and community members to examine how conceptions about producer and audience identity and the role of this art form in everyday life have evolved in light of changing context. The article furthermore discusses the ways in which the forms and motifs associated with <italic>smettvev</italic> are being re-appropriated by local contemporary artists working in other mediums, as well as by individuals and institutions who see <italic>smettvev</italic> as a symbol of local identity and heritage.</abstract>

Woven Identities: Socioeconomic Change, Women’s Agency, and the Making of a Heritage Art in Jølster, Norway

Anthropological Aspects of Alcohol Trade in Microsocieties of Chukotka National Settlements

Sensing Siberia

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 17 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 17 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023) The Divine, the Demonic and the Beyond in Belief, Narrative and Practice of Central and East Asia

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Volume 10 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 10 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

The Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics (JEF) is the joint publication of the Estonian Literary Museum, the Estonian National Museum and the University of Tartu. JEF is an international, double-blind peer reviewed multidisciplinary forum for creative, inspiring and cutting-edge academic contributions. Addressed to an international scholarly audience, JEF is open to contributions from researchers all over the world. We aim to encourage discussion of the socio-cultural diversity of the whole world in a thought-provoking, imaginative and experimental scholarly spirit. JEF publishes articles in the research areas including but not limited to ethnology, folkloristics, museology, cultural and social anthropology, sociology, semiotics, history, human geography, cultural studies, heritage studies, and critical theory. JEF aims to offer both theoretical and empirical insights to deepen and advance our understanding of society and culture. The journal encourages contributions that use various disciplinary perspectives and theoretical and methodological approaches. JEF welcomes contributions analysing empirical data as well as theoretical and methodological contributions, critical literature reviews of current research as well as papers engaging in creative or applied practice. In addition to full-length articles the journal also welcomes research notes and book reviews.  Rejection Rate:   69%   Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.  Open Access Statement  JEF is issued two times per year, both in print format and online. The journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.　  Description of the review process:　  Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics is a peer-reviewed journal. All submissions are initially evaluated by the editors and can be desk-rejected at this stage. Submitted research articles that meet the academic and journal’s editorial standards will be read and reviewed by at least two anonymous referees. JEF is using double-blind review, meaning that the author and reviewer identities are concealed from each other throughout the process. Based on the reviewers’ written reports, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editors can accept, reject, or request minor or major modifications to the manuscript.  JEF has neither article submission nor article processing charges.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections. 

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

Volume 10 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Editorial

Preface to the Special Issue: Drinking Is Not Just Fun

Special Issue: "Drinking Is Not Just Fun"

Drinking in the North of European Russia: From Traditional to Totalising Liminality

“I’m Not Like Most of You Here, I’m Just an Alcoholic”: A Russian Baptist Theory of Addiction

“Suddenly a Binge Drinking Episode Has Happened to Him”: Locus of Control, Notion of Responsibility, Alcoholism and Suicide in the Taz Region, Yamal Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Alcohol Consumption Practices in the Koryak Community

Drunkards and Singers: A Mongolian Battle of Sounds

Regular Articles

Woven Identities: Socioeconomic Change, Women’s Agency, and the Making of a Heritage Art in Jølster, Norway

Notes and Reviews

Anthropological Aspects of Alcohol Trade in Microsocieties of Chukotka National Settlements

Sensing Siberia

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