Vym traditional culture in expedition materials of the folklore collection of the Institute of language, literature and history of the Komi science centre, Ural branch, RAS

The folklore collection of the Institute of Language, Literature and History is an archive formed as a result of the professional activities of folklorists, linguists and ethnographers. It includes the audio- and video-materials of the expeditions on the traditional culture of the Komi Republic and the adjacent areas. The Vym collection is presented which includes records from 1961 to 2015: over 60 hours of audio- and over 30 hours of video-recordings. The earliest recordings were made by P.I.Chistalev in 1960-1961 in the village of Seregovo. The materials include song folklore: calendar, wedding, lyrical, choral songs, cruel romances. In 1964 A.K.Mikushev and Yu.G.Rochev studied all traditional settlements in the area. These materials present song tradition of the Vym Komi: lyrics, round dance and game songs, Christmas performances, children's folklore, wedding and funeral lamentations, “geographic” songs etc.; of the prose ganres - the le- gend of Yirkap (hunter - hero of local legends and stories) and three tales. In subsequent expeditions the material on the prose genres of folklore as well as information on rituals was collected. The materials of 2000-2015 fix well- preserved details of the funeral rites. Special attention was paid to collecting information about calendar rituals, folk medicine, nickname folklore, toponymy, demonology. In general, the materials of the Vym collection are very diverse that gives the possibility of multifaceted study of the local specificity of the region.