“Here Malo grew up, and here he hunts and fishes”: functions of Nenets nyukubts songs

Abstract

Nyukubts songs are a Nenets genre that is often compared to lullaby songs, in particular, to the lullaby of the Russian tradition. These genres can be compared, in particular, due to their belonging to both maternal and children’s folklore – both lullabies and nyukubts songs can be sung by adults for young children and by children themselves for their younger siblings. Despite their frequent comparison, however, these genres have quite marked differences, the most important of which are evident in the contexts in which they are performed. The most important (but not the only) function of lullabies in the Russian tradition can be called ‘putting to sleep’ (according to the terminology of V.V. Golovin). However, for Nenets nyukubtsy, their usage for lulling children to sleep is rather a side feature peculiar to only a small part of songs. Among the function’s characteristic of the Nenets nyukubts songs there are also other functions similar to those identified for lullaby songs of the Russian tradition by V.V. Golovin. Among such functions, in addition to the lulling function, one can mention protective, prognostic, epistemological functions. But the main function for the genre of nyukubts songs seems to be the ‘caressing’ function, which allows the performer of the song to express feelings towards its addressee. The article is devoted to the description of the functions of children’s nyukubts songs.