THE SYMBOLISM OF THE IINSTUMENTS OF PEASANT LABOUR I N THE FOLKLIFE CULTURE OF THE PERM REGION
The symbolic meanings of the instruments of the peasant labour and their relation to the practical household application are revealed in the article. The main functions of their use in the magic and family rituals (wedding and funeral mostly) of the Komi-Permyak and Russian inhabitants in the Perm Region are described. The active usage of farming, fishery and hunting instruments in their guarding and producing character is mentioned, and that is connected with enduing them with the qualities of magic, with attributing their own power to them, with the capability to be the means of relation between a man and the otherworld. Frequent usage of the symbolism of instruments of labour is indicated in such genres of folklore as a spoken mythological story, a superstitious belief, a ritual taboo, sayings, proverbs, and idioms. A range of ceremonial manipulations with the instruments of labour in folk magic rituals, which are noted in some magical rites, is described. A case study of modern destruction of the traditional ritual symbolism is given in the article. The closeness of the symbolic functions of artifacts under investigation in Russian and Komi-Permyak cultural tradition is elicited, explained by both the typological similarity of symbols and cross-cultural interaction of peoples of the Kama region. The conclusions are made about the ambivalence of the cultural semantics of the symbols under study, as well as about the juxtaposition of contrary meanings in them and the relation of utilitarian-household and religious-magical functions of instruments of labour.