The White Sea Karelia through the biographies of the nineteenth-century Karelian tale-tellers

The article explores scholarly literature and the biographies of Karelian tale-tellers through the analysis of historical and ethnographic data on the lifestyles and cultural and economic situation in the nineteenth-century White Sea (Vienan) Karelia. The primary source of the research material were biographical stories of more than five hundred Karelian runosingers and witch doctors collected over a century-long period by forty Finnish folklore researchers. The research subject and material encompass nineteenth-century folklore and ethnographic literature, the economic situation in the said historical geographic province, the tale-tellers' biographies, the daily routines and lifestyles of rural Karelia, and some ancient beliefs as well as the Old Believers' effects on them. The authors used the comparative historical method and the contrastive method. The research novelty and relevance arise from the fact that the topic has not been studied through the biographical stories of the nineteenth-century runosingers. The information contained in the biographical stories of Karelian witch doctors and runosingers fully confirms the conclusions previously made by historians and ethnographers, but adds important details to the description of the spiritual life in the region. The study results in forming the image of Russia's North Karelian region - one of the most agriculturally and economically backward territories, which, however, preserved the unique heritage of the runosinging folklore tradition and the folk culture of northern Karelians in general.