Stages of wedding rituals as indicators of folk customs

Matanat Khalilova Stages of wedding rituals as indicators of folk customsIn the article the attention is given to the level of development of wedding ceremonies, which are studied within the framework of household rituals related to ritual folklore, accompanied by folk customs.Wedding ceremonies can be studied from different aspects.In this study the interaction of folk customs in wedding ceremonies is investigated.Obviously, this topic is one of the most widespread in folklore and ethnography.It can be said that it covers such a wide range of issues that it unambiguously emphasizes the relationship between folklore and ethnography.In the study the Azerbaijani weddings two contexts in terms of the gradual development of folk customs are mainly investigated.Firstly, the staged folk customs that precede the wedding ceremony; secondly, the wedding ceremony itself.Of course, the folk customs that accompany the wedding ceremony are also manifested in various rituals that are also part of the wedding ceremony complex.However, as our aim is to trace folk customs that develop before the wedding, we thought it appropriate to approach folk customs from this perspective, both at the beginning and at the end.In the study the folk customs characteristic of Azerbaijani weddings as monotonous values, as well as customs unique to each wedding, such as beshikkertme and bride kidnapping are also investigated.In the study the specific methodological approach to this topic is also applied.Thus, while studies on this topic mostly show a wide range of literary and historical sources related to wedding ceremonies, this study did not follow this path as it only looks at the stages of development of the customs, but instead presented an overview of ceremonies and folk customs found in encyclopedic sources.In the research work it is shown that the customs are interrelated and reflect a unified culture as a whole.