«Park on bones»: mythologization of modern urban space in Siberian cities

• Main Author: Baiduzh M.I.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Tyumen Scientific Centre SB RA 2016-12-01
• Series: Вестник археологии, антропологии и этнографии
• Subjects: mythological landscape; local narrative; urban text; Tyumen; Tara; cultural identity
• Online Access: http://www.ipdn.ru/va-en/_private/a35/enga35-3-5.htm
• ISSN: 1811-7465; 2071-0437

The article analyzes mythological beliefs about the parks, which are laid out at old cemeteries or very close to them in the Siberian cities of Tyumen and Tara. The complex of such beliefs is presented in the local narratives and urban practices that are transmitted and actualized among the people, who identify themselves with these cities. This research is based on the interviews with local people and regional historians and on the data of local media. The research points out a number of the most common motifs for constructing the image of «the park on bones» in the actual mythological landscape of the Siberian cities. First of all, there is a folk motif of «it is impossible to build something on the place of a burial». Its popularity is mainly based on the influence of images and plots of popular culture on the urban texts and practices. There are some other typical motifs, such as «this place attracts marginal people», «this place attracts some ghosts», and «the place can punish you for misbehaviour». The last motif is often accompanied by some reflections on the causes of punishment and on what kind of beha-vior is wrong in this special place. For example, Tara people believe that the fate of the city has changed from a positive (a successful merchant town) to a negative (a little depressing town) one, because of impoliteness to the old cemetery. Additionally, the version of «misbehaviour» depends on cultural identity of the person. The phenomenon of creating a park on the site of the old cemeteries requires symbolic understanding by the urban community and inscription of these positive and negative spaces into the urban mythological landscape with the help of the motifs that already potentially appear in the narratives.