Alhalalalai as a form of cultural memory of the Itelmens

Brizhan Evgeniia Valerievna ORCID: 0000-0001-9302-763X Postgraduate student; Department of Philosophy, Sociology and Cultural Studies; Moscow University for the Humanities 111395, Russia, Moscow, Yunosti str., 5, of. - EvgeniiaBrizhan@yandex.ru

Introduction

The cultural memory of the people is formed over the centuries of its existence and reflects the history and culture that influenced the development of the people, determined its historical path, established its traditions. This type of memory, defined in the scientific literature as "a type of supra-individual memory accumulating collective, value-significant memories, intentionally preserved and transmitted in mythological and symbolic forms" ^{[11, p. 13]}, ensures the transmission from generation to generation of ancient knowledge, customs, spiritual and moral values, which form an ethnic or national identity, they make the people what they are. In the conditions of globalization observed in the modern world, when traditional values are under threat, it is especially important to preserve cultural memory, strengthen and restore its various forms and elements in order to preserve each nation of the world in its uniqueness, excluding "value transformations in the cultural axiosphere." The relevance of the category of supra-individual, collective memory as a research object in the modern scientific space is associated with the crisis of identity that threatens many people today, especially small peoples in the context of the trend towards cultural uniformity. Turning to the phenomenon of cultural memory, every nation, including small ones, is able to ensure its revival, create conditions for the preservation of the cultural heritage that it has.

Literature review

Cultural memory can be expressed in various non-material forms, such as religion, a holiday ^{[1; 10]}, myths, celebrations, customs, rituals, and material objects such as souvenirs, antiques, old books, photographs, architectural structures, etc. The object of our research was such a form of cultural memory as a holiday, namely, the annual ceremonial celebration of the itelmen Alkhalalalai. In the scientific literature, this holiday in the format of culture and cultural memory has not received sufficient comprehensive research. Publications dedicated to him are rare. It is possible to note the articles of A.I. Rudenko, which have a descriptive and ethnographic character ^[8], as well as the publication of Yu.I. Romanko, which analyzes the ethnic and regional aspects of the phenomenon ^[7]. Scientists still have to make a holistic theoretical and analytical understanding of the holiday.

The Itelmen are one of the indigenous peoples of the Kamchatka Territory, in whose traditions Alkhalalalai is the most important holiday. The history, culture, traditions, holidays, and language of the Itelmen have been actively studied since the late 1970s and especially in the last two decades. Scientists are asking questions: "Will itelmen die out? Will the Itelmen language survive?" ^{[3, p. 69]} and carefully explore various forms of realization of their traditional culture: musical instruments ^[4], ornamental art ^[9], etc. In the culture of the Itelmen, Alkhalalai is not just essential, but of paramount importance, acting as an identification sign, as a cultural constant.

The purpose of this study was to identify the features of preserving the ancient national holiday Alkhalalalai in the cultural memory of modern itelmen at the present stage of the development of the people.

The results of the study

The phenomena recorded in cultural memory allow people to remember what they did not witness, but which for a long time has been and continues to be of great importance for the development of their people, the formation of the cultural field in which current and future generations live and will live.

It is not by chance that our attention is paid to the holiday as a component of cultural memory. This is due to the fact that "the holiday is a public, representative phenomenon, as it implements and demonstrates some important idea for society. The celebrants consciously or unconsciously accept it, being involved in the action" ^{[1, p. 15]}, performing specific ritual acts. Mythological and symbolic elements are important in the structure of the holiday, which express the ancient beliefs of the people and fill their modern life with spiritual and moral content.

The name of the holiday "Alkhalalalai" comes from the cry of greeting and gratitude, which is repeatedly heard during this celebration. As already noted, on this day, it has been customary for Itelmen since ancient times to thank the higher powers and Nature for the generosity shown by them in the past annual cycle. The autumn season is perfect for this, when the main household work is completed (fishing, harvesting meat and skins, construction and renovation of housing, etc.). For itelmen, the idea of unity with nature, existence in harmony with it, is important, and during the holiday they strive to reconnect with natural forces, thus ensuring their strength and confidence. In addition, it is a holiday of purification, symbolizing the deliverance from evil spirits that harmed people in the past cycle, and the transition of a renewed, evil-discarded person to a new cycle.

With a loud shout of "Alkhalalalai", the participants of the holiday, along with evil spirits, drive away diseases, fears, failures, evil. Grimaces, dancing, competitions, contests, dressing up in "scary" costumes, hitting tambourines and loud music are designed to create a carnival atmosphere of a cheerful and cheerful holiday, unrestrained fun that shows the whole world (nature, spirits, deities) the strength and confidence of itelmen. The purification ends with the passage of all participants of the holiday through a ring of birch branches.

On this day, itelmen try to forgive their enemies in order to start a new annual cycle with a clean slate, with an unblemished soul. They strive to distract themselves from worries, leave all the troubles behind and recharge with the living energy of the earth for the whole coming year. In ancient times, they faced a difficult winter ahead, during which the reserves made during the warm season became the basis for survival, which means that the land that gave these reserves, which allowed them to be made, deserved the most sincere gratitude.

The itelmen consider the fish god Hantai to be a kind guest of the cheerful celebration, embodying the souls of deceased ancestors who patronize the living, protect them from troubles. Khanty should be appeased and fed, they try to serve him with fun, generosity, dancing and treats. They are building a pillar with the image of a deity: his carved wooden body is the body of a fish, and his face resembles a man or a raven.

 According to the ancient beliefs of the Itelmen, on this day, the veil between the "upper" and "lower" worlds, belonging, respectively, to people and spirits, opens slightly, becomes not so strong. Loud songs and screams act as protection, a talisman. However, a lot of material amulets are being made for the holiday; they become guardians of people and homes for the next annual cycle.

The collective nature of the holiday is very important. On this day, people show each other that they are together and that is how they have a better chance of surviving in a complex and often unfriendly world, to preserve a fragile human life. Open to each other, they have fun together, and end the holiday with an abundant joint meal, symbolizing both a successful year, gratitude to nature for it, and an offering to the spirits with a request to prolong good luck for the next cycle. Since ancient times, the collective nature of the holiday has played not only a spiritual, but also a social role: boys and girls met and got acquainted here, who then had to marry; news, recent events were discussed here; deals were made here, etc.

Such an important holiday for the people could not completely become a thing of the past, as it almost happened in Soviet times; its recreation became a guarantee of the revival of the Itelmen people themselves. The restoration of the Alkhalalalai holiday took place on the land of the Itelmen more than 35 years ago, after careful study by scientists and enthusiasts of ancient sources. Now the holiday is held annually, on the September full moon. It turned into an ethnofestival that lasts for a whole day. Its venue is the ethnographic camp "Pimchakh" near the village of Sosnovka, which is an open–air museum. Unfortunately, there are no ancient Itelmen settlements in modern Kamchatka, but "Pimchakh" was created on the model of such a settlement. At the modern holiday, held annually here, ethnographers, cultural scientists, and enthusiasts of the Itelmen folk culture manage to recreate the traditions and rituals that were performed at the celebration several centuries, and possibly thousands of years ago, because it is currently impossible to establish the exact time of the origin of this holiday in the Itelmen culture.

Modern Alkhalalai attracts itelmen and representatives of other cultures by demonstrating folk dances, songs, costumes, crafts such as making national costumes, shoes, jewelry made of fur, leather and beads, souvenirs and handbags woven from grass. This is a bright and original national holiday, reviving traditions and at the same time very modern, inscribed in the life of the people at the present stage of its development.

Since many national holidays turn out to be almost lost, half-forgotten, the question arises in the ethno-cultural community about the admissibility and necessity of their reconstruction, that is, revival, restoration, recreation. If a celebration or ceremony has not been held for many years, their resurrection will not happen by itself, even if people are called to such a revival. It will require conscious efforts on the part of interested parties: historians, cultural scientists, ethnographers, library and archive workers, enthusiasts of folk culture, elders, ordinary people, etc. For reconstruction, it is necessary to study the theoretical aspects of the tradition, find maximum information about the phenomenon, attract old-timers, search archival materials, records in ethnographic literature, etc. By the way, the most ancient description of the holiday was made by S.P. Krasheninnikov in the book "Description of the land of Kamchatka" back in 1755 ^[5].

At the moment, reconstruction has become an independent method of restoring the phenomena of folk culture. The researchers claim that "folklore reconstructions as a way to activate the fading forms of traditional folk culture are still at the stage of formation, therefore it is premature to draw any conclusions, but the existing positive experience can already be recommended for use. We believe that in relation to the Alkhalalalai holiday, reconstruction was an adequate method and was applied in a timely manner when the restoration of this form of folk culture had not yet become possible.

It should be noted that even after careful preparatory work, there will still be no guarantee that the holiday will completely repeat its historical form, but at the moment reconstruction is proving to be an effective mechanism for updating cultural memory and replenishing it with components that can be called "new old". As the researchers note, "the mechanisms of reconstructing holidays, reviving their meaning, restoring and creatively rethinking the ways of celebrating are significant elements of cultural life" ^{[10, p. 72]}.

Culture cannot exist and develop without a combination of tradition and innovation. Gradual and natural changes in culture are, according to scientists, "necessary and ensuring the existence of culture, its viability" ^{[6, p. 17]}. Based on this, one should not expect that the modern Alkhalalai will completely, to the smallest detail, correspond to its historical prototype. The variability of culture is the most important feature and genetic factor of its development, moreover, only progressive development is a guarantee of the viability of culture. And at the present stage of the existence of the world and society, the ancient celebration could not have changed, even if its history had not been interrupted for a long time.

Conclusion

The culture of every nation today is able to adequately withstand the pressure of globalization if the objects of its cultural memory receive scientific study, public attention and popular popularity, if, in case of their loss or oblivion, efforts are made to revive them, if necessary, to reconstruct them. Alkhalalalai today is not just a beautiful and fascinating ethnic holiday, with the help of which one of the segments of the Itelmen folk culture has been reconstructed. It is also a way to restore the traditions of an ancient ethnic group, recreate its identity, ethnic identity and the Itelmen folk language, a platform for the revival of folk crafts, a constant point of attraction for tourists and an annual meeting place for all connoisseurs, keepers and lovers of Itelmen culture.

Cultural memory is such that it cannot exist in a cultural vacuum. It requires the efforts of the people to preserve the cultural riches that have accumulated during their existence. Some elements of cultural memory may sometimes weaken under the influence of objective historical circumstances, but cultural activities to revive rituals, customs, and holidays can give them a new sound and ensure a stable life.

The research conducted in this article has great prospects, since the traditions of each nation deserve the most careful study and preservation in order to pass on various forms of cultural memory to the next generations.