Scientific approaches to the study of the ritual of animal sacrifice of the Zyryans in the first third of the XX century: historical and cultural context, sources, results

The author raises the problem of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of folk traditions that have gone out of active use and do not have reliable ethnographic descriptions. This problem is relevant not only for the study of the Komi tradition, but also for ethnographic studies of other peoples. The paper analyzes fragments of scientific works by P. A. Sorokin, V. P. Nalimov, A. S. Sidorov, devoted to the study of the ritual of sacrificing dometic animals among the Komi-Zyryans, using methods of biographical, descriptive, comparative and textual analysis. The analysis revealed that the study of the ritual of sacrificing animals in the works of P. A. Sorokin, V. P. Nalimov and A. S. Sidorov corresponds to the theoretical developments of ethnographic science of the early XX century. It is characterized by the search for and identification of the “roots” of the rite, the correlation of current religious practices with ancient forms of religions and pre-Christian worldview, ignoring the current context of the tradition. It has been established that the source of information about the rite is the personal memories and field materials of the authors, as well as published works. The descriptions of the ritual included in the studies are brief and generalized, typical of ethnographic notes of the second half of the XIX century, which is explained by the authors’ attempt to present the particular as typical. The analysis of the sources made it possible to clarify individual details in the description of the rite, identify controversial points and substantiate contradictions. As a result of the study, the issues of historiography of the animal sacrifice rite in the Komi tradition were clarified, a source study analysis of the materials was carried out, which makes it possible to enter a new stage in the study of this ritual.