Mari Men and Women as Bearers of the Mari Language and Identity

N.Glukhova, V.Glukhov

Pages: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

At the same time a new social group appeared: it was a small group of national intelligentsia, who proposed a task of self-determination and autonomy (Sanukov, 2000:13). During the 20th century the nation's way of life did not change very much. Collectivization, personality cult, post-war policy did not give the Mari a chance to improve their social and economic position. Even in 1989 at the industrial enterprises of the Republic only one fourth of the workers were Mari, the majority of whom were occupied in timber, woodworking, light and food industries and working there did not demand a high qualification (Popov, 2000b:42). After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the factories and plants existing went bankrupt. Their workers were left unemployed.

Any ethnos as a historical subject differs from others not only by character features, specific mentality, way of life and system of values, but also by a selective attitude towards economic and social changes in the society. Mari historians and sociologists stress the fact that the historically developed mentality of the Mari interferes with their active participation in on-going reforms and changes in the economy. There are practically no businessmen of the Mari nationality worth speaking of (Popov, 2000b:41).

This fact might be explained by the history of mentalities (Shkuratov, 1994:48- 69;110-117). According to it some features of people living now refer back to a rustic civilization. Adherence to the previous experience hinders introducing new facts into life, prevents them from orientation towards the future. People are immersed in the immediate present. The past experience serves to fit the tasks of socio-cultural stability in the village community. Life in the village is so difficult that people think only of themes and problems of everyday life. The principal regulator of interpersonal relationship is direct communication. Though some people praise the collectivism of the former Soviet people (the Mari included), rustic civilization gives birth to absolute egocentrics. People lack individual self-awareness which is substituted by a set of collective notions, assumptions and in the long run collective traditions.

Some other features which can also testify to the previously expressed fact about the impossibility of the Mari to successfully adapt themselves to new economic relationships in the country might be shown here. 70% of the contemporary Mari live in a partly rustic civilization. No wonder that in people's mentality there are traces of the pre-urban culture. According to the history of mentalities, the typical features of the peasant civilization all round the world are the same. They are: an agrarian economy, manual labor, minimum consumption, simple life, dependence on natural- climatic rhythms, an all-round animism, adherence to ancient traditions, direct personal communication. It is also characterized by the absence of a written language as an important channel of information (Shkuratov, 1994:100).

Of course, the contemporary technological progress has had a definite impact on the Mari village. The Mari have two literary languages, different genres of literature. Mari villages have several modern conveniences, electric devices, gas. People use modern means of transportation - cars, buses, trains. Most of the village population wear "town" clothes and footwear, eat "town" food. Nevertheless the contemporary village Mari, even when occupied in different sectors of the national economy (working on the collective farms, in agricultural production cooperatives), have large individual plots with vegetables and special potato fields for themselves and their domestic animals. People prefer to live in their own wooden houses thus retaining some features of the peasant civilization.

The Mari village intelligentsia finds its place in the educational structure consisting of kindergartens, schools of different levels, libraries and village colleges of vocational training. Nearly all the village Mari have relatives in towns with whom they have very lose ties.

Pages: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]