Willow herb with cloudberries: a trip to Kizhi (from the notebook of a linguist-traveler)

The article is a historical and cultural essay on an ethnolinguistic topic. The author focuses on the sacred archipelago Kizhi with its unique architectural monuments, religious life, folk song traditions and natural landscape. The story is written in the genre of a linguist’s travel diary and is conducted in the first person. Much attention is paid to describing the landscapes seen in the context of the spiritual heritage of the Russian North. The names of 19th-century storytellers associated with Kizhi are mentioned: T.G. Ryabinin, V.P. Shchegolyonok and the Slavophile philologist A.F. Gilferding, who collected epic folklore in these places. At the same time, the “lyrical” article is also a kind of heuristic experiment that allows a modern scientist to consider the facts of distant history through the prism of the society of our time. Therefore, the author’s reflection sounds like the voice of a writer reflecting on the chronicle years of Kizhi, then moving into the 21st century together with the silhouettes of visitors and employees of the reserve and observing funny cases, then solving linguistic puzzles. Portrait characteristics are given that make it possible to see behind the verbal impulses the features of a new history and a generation of people divorced from their national roots. The author’s philosophical reflections on the importance of preserving cultural values (not only architecture, but also language and everyday principles) are given. It speaks about respect for the memory of the ancestors as the creators of the Russian identity. It emphasizes the need to refer to historical documents that preserve rare evidence of the non-fictional life of the people. The essay urges readers not to be passive tourist observers, to become more actively involved in expedition activities and to study the authentic pages of national history and language.