FEAST As a Mirror of Social and Cultural Changes

32 Ewa Nowicka universum of Buryat culture. They build, disseminate, and fortify the cultural canon in the daily practices and consciousness of Buryats. This shapes a feeling of a supra-tribal, supra-clan, supra-regional, and even supra-state community for a nation that is dispersed and culturally variegated. This is the work of the Buryat intelligentsia which is manifesting, loudly and clearly, its will to revivify an endangered culture and identity. They prove their rights to Buryat land; they show the world the Buryat cultural heritage in a form attractive to one and all. Over the course of the last two decades, the elite has chosen public, ethnic, festive events as the most realistic and effective way to impact social awareness. Nonetheless, this does not mean dismissal of conventional means in the struggle to maintain Buryat ethnic identity: familial transmission, the educational system, as well as recovery and popularization of the language at school and in the home. Under their circumstances, public events in general and festivals in particular appear to be the most operational, fruitful, and appealing devices for the revival of their traditional culture. In consequence, there is succor and support for the framework of a contemporary and cohesive Buryat nation inhabiting its own ethnic homelands. References Budaev, Jurij (1991) “O datirovke uligera. Itogi soveshchanija [= On Dating the Uliger: The Results of Discussion].” [In:] Jurij I. Budaev, Bair S. Dugarov (eds.) Geseriada: proshloe i nastojashchee [= Geseriada: Past and Present]. Ulan-Ude, Russia: Buryatskoe otdelenie VFK; 53–56. Burchina, Darima (2004) “Geroicheski epos [=Heroical Epos].” [In:] Lubov Abayeva, Natalya Zhukovskaya (eds.) Buryaty. Moscow, Russia: Nauka; 267–294. Clammer, John (2015) “Performing Ethnicity: Performance, Gender, Body and Belief in the Construction and Signalling of Identity.” [In:] Ethnic and Racial Studies 38(13); 2159–2166. DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2015.1045305 Comaroff, John L., Jean Comaroff (2009) Ethnicity. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Dashieva, Lidiya (2009) Buriatski krugovoy tanets Yokhor: istorichesko–etnograficheski, ladovy, ritmicheski aspekty [= The Buryat Yokhor Circle Dance: Historical–­ Ethnographical, Structural, and Rhythmic Aspects]. Ulan-Ude, Russia: Izdatel’stvo BNTs. Dugarov, Bair (1992) “Geser eto pamiat’ naroda [= Geser and the People’s Memory].” [In:] Soyol 8; 6–7.

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