A CHUVASH WOMAN IN A MODERN CITY: ETHNO-CULTURAL ASPECT
The article examines the role and place of a Chuvash woman in a modern urban family. The study was conducted on the basis of participant observation, interviewing by purposefully designed questionnaires and data from the State Statistics Committee of the Chuvash Republic. Involvement of field ethnographic materials allowed to identify the main trends in the development of urban rituals. The authors were able to show the dynamics and features of family rituals related to pregnancy, birth, naming, baptizing and the newborn’s first days of life. Transformations of family rituals are explained by changes in urban culture and everyday life of modern citizens. The most conservative in the children's cycle are customs and rituals of prenatal period, which contribute as perceived by the Chuvashs, to a favorable outcome of childbirth. Preserved rites and rituals of the life cycle of the Chuvash peoples were indicators and continue to indicate the unique essence of everyday culture, they reflect the moral character of the society which makes it possible to consider them as a cultural resource of our time.