Review: Traditional material culture of the rural population of Cuba/ Ed. by E. G. Alexandrenkov, A. H. Garcia Dally. Moscow: IEA RAS, 2003. 382 p.

The reviewed monograph is certified by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Center for Anthropology of the Ministry of Science and Natural Resources of Cuba. This is the fruit of a joint scientific collaboration that began in the late 1970s, when Cuban and Soviet ethnographers decided to work together to compile an ethnographic atlas of Cuba. The idea and history of the project are described in detail by V. A. Tishkov in the preface. The main topics of the atlas were to be: settlements, housing, transport, farming tools, fishing methods and tools, food and beverages, clothing, household utensils. The Ethnographic Atlas of Cuba was published by Cubans on CD in 2000.

The book under review contains a preface, nine sections, and a conclusion. L. S. Sheinbaum and E. G. Alexandrenkov translated and edited the articles of Cuban scientists. The book opens with an Essay on Ethnic History (by A. H. Garcia Dalli and J. Guanche Perez), which describes the population of the island, which has experienced mass immigration from Spain, Africa, Asia and some parts of the Americas since the 16th century. According to the authors, the formation of ethnic identity was influenced by the awareness of territorial affiliation, the use of the Spanish language, which incorporated a specific island vocabulary, as well as cultural and psychological traits of the population. The" peak "in the formation of ethnic identity (autoconciencia etnica) of Cubans is called 1868-1898, the time of the "struggle for anti - colonial independence" (p.19-20). Such dating may seem "natural", but the vivid events of political history often obscure the shades of culture that are already difficult to grasp in retrospect, so the value of the former in the periodization of ethnic history is probably very relative. Major migration flow in the first three decades of the 20th century He had a "decisive impact on the demographic growth of the island" and introduced "elements that, in a creative and dynamic process, enriched, to a greater or lesser extent, the national culture" (pp. 20-21). The sugar industry, its growth and decline, determined the composition and territorial distribution of immigrants, as well as immigration legislation (pp. 21-22).

The section "Settlements" - in our opinion, one of the most interesting in the book - was written by J. A. Alvarado Ramos on the basis of field material collected in 9 provinces of the country (218 localities) and a nationwide survey covering 1,363 settlements. The section contains a short historiographical essay on the topic. The researcher focuses on "rural settlements proper, that is, those localities whose appearance and development were closely connected with rural life, with agricultural production", in other words, "settlements born for the exploitation of rural land" (p. 30). Despite all the advantages of this section, one cannot but regret that the author did not consider it necessary, at least briefly, "to dwell on the characteristics of cities and villages" (p. 53).

The section contains a description of aspects of economic activity of the inhabitants of Cuba that are relevant to the forms of settlement since the XVI century. Animal husbandry, according to the author, contributed to the emergence of the first settlements in the almost deserted interior of the island (p. 41). Tobacco, sugar, and coffee cultivation led to further colonization of these areas in the 17th and 19th centuries. Thus, "in its offensive movement, Sugar paved roads, absorbed forests, and created settlements" (p.45).

It was on sugar cane plantations, where slave labor was used, that such a historical type of settlement as "batey" appeared - a complex of residential and technical buildings, which also resembles settlements at coffee plantations (cafeterias) of the early XIX century. Family labor on small plots (minifundios) played a significant role in tobacco production, and such tobacco-growing settlements were characterized by dispersion, and the head of the family was often a tenant, rather than the owner of the land. Estancia - small agricultural farms that used slave labor, also tended to be dispersed and distributed.-

Roman N. Ignatiev-Candidate of Historical Sciences, Researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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they camped near cities or large plantations. At the same time, in some regions, "the trend towards dispersion did not exclude high population density" (pp. 50-52).

So, " dispersion "(homesteads with land) and "concentration" (residential areas separated from others by land), as the main forms of settlement, offer the types and variants of populated places that the author undertakes to consider. At the same time, as you can see, the "variance" is characteristic of homesteads (fincas, haciendas), "pastures" (potreros), tobacco-growing areas, es - tansias and cafeterias, and "concentration" - sugar plantations and "settlements" proper (p.57). Speaking about settlements (poblaciones), the author gives a list of localities, which sets us a difficult task of translating and interpreting the terms he uses.

We note, in our opinion, some inaccuracies made. The word pueblo is translated as "settlement", although in modern Spanish it is a general name for mainly small settlements (including cities), as well as, in contrast to cities, rural settlements. In Russian, "settlement" is a very specific or relatively recent settlement ("worker", "fisherman" or "dacha settlement", "urban - type settlement", etc.). However, as the author notes with respect to pueblo, "this type of settlement (but rather the term. - R. I.) is not a specific one. it was quite common on the island" (p. 54). In addition, "it is really difficult, based on the data at our disposal, to determine the exact parameters for each of the types of settlements of the colonial era" (p. 53); "in many cases, the same settlement is assigned to different categories in these sources" (p.54).

The editor's note on the term "caserio" is not entirely convincing: "as a rule, a disordered cluster of poor dwellings" (p. 52). "Caserio" in Spanish can mean either an isolated peasant farm (a house with services) together with its surrounding possessions, or, above all, a collection of such yards, which, however, do not form a single settlement with a more or less distinct center. Along the way, we will also touch on the use of the term barrio in this section: on p. 37-38: "censuses provided data on provinces, municipalities, and barrios", on p. 60: "demographic data on provinces, municipalities, and barrios, including both concentrated and dispersed settlements in the latter." I think that an adequate translation of this term into Russian is a definite problem. In Spanish, barrio has several meanings: "quarter (city)", "suburb", "caserio, referring to any settlement", and "in the area of a dispersed settlement, a collection of isolated houses connected in a certain way in space". In this case, I would take the liberty of suggesting the term "residential area", without in any way encroaching on the reader's right to choose the most appropriate of the above meanings.

One should fully agree with the author when he says that the isolation of caserio or villages ("aldeas" is a term that "did not take root in the popular vocabulary in Cuba" and "did not survive in official use") it contributed to "better preservation of numerous elements of traditional culture in them, whether it is the types of dwellings and building materials, agricultural implements and vehicles, or manifestations of spiritual culture" (p. 55).

A great place in the work is occupied by the brilliantly conducted analysis of "rural concentrated settlements" and "dispersed settlement" in the period 1899-1958. The author examines the "concentrated" settlements in the sugar cane growing areas (batey) in the XX century, when some of them turned into settlements with a fairly developed socio-cultural infrastructure, often located outside the industrial zone; settlements in the eastern mountain regions, where coffee, cocoa and vegetables are grown and where the role of communication routes is high; settlements in the southern part of the country, where the related to banana export and cabotage-on the example of the Baracoa zone (one of the most interesting places in the section). The author considers settlements created as a result of the immigration wave, mainly North American, in the first decades of the XX century to be "atypical settlements". (east of the island). Such settlements with network buildings, bungalows and chalets, hotels were deserted during the economic crisis of the turn of the 1920s-1930s. The author characterizes Caserio as an" intermediate type of settlement", as an" intermediate link between dispersed and concentrated rural settlement " (p.78). According to Alvarado Ramos, it was communications that contributed to the emergence of caserio (p. 78). The" roadside " type of Caserio was strengthened after the revolution in the Western world.

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Having touched upon the topic of communications, the author analyzes the forms of settlements, supporting it with extremely interesting examples.

Dispersed settlement "existed in different historical periods throughout the country, being tied to different natural conditions and to different types of rural labor" (p. 89). The author considers livestock areas (historically the highest level of dispersion; for example, the province of Camaguey), tobacco growing areas (the practice of splitting latifundia into plots; for example, the western province of Pinar del Rio), mountain areas (settlement of deserted areas for economic reasons, and the parcel of coffee estates). Variants of dispersed settlement are analyzed in detail, and successful examples illustrate the great importance of the yard for the Cuban rural resident. In Cuba, the situation of land tenants was unstable, so there was a frequent change of residence or "constant mobility of the rural population" (p. 103). Finally, "revolutionary transformations in the countryside and new types of settlements" are of interest (pp. 104-109). In particular, Alvarado Ramos notes a strong trend towards population concentration (p. 109).

L. S. Sheinbaum owns the "Manor" section. Describing the general features of the organization of a rural estate (finca rural), the author notes that "the appearance of the estate, especially the layout and interior decoration of housing, was reflected in the fact that the development of rural areas in Cuba occurred in many cases from urban centers" (p.118). The author notes the simplicity of housing structures, the use of traditional materials, and identifies three types of peasant farmsteads that correspond to tobacco production, agricultural and animal husbandry, and coffee cultivation. As examples, the author considers a tobacco grower's estate (veguero) in the western province of Pinar del Rio, an agricultural and pastoral estate in the eastern provinces of Camaguey and Holguin, a mountain estate in the coffee growing zone-the eastern provinces of Granma and Guantanamo.

The "Boio" section was written by Malo de Molina. It is advisable, however, to read first the comments to this section made by L. S. Scheinbaum (pp. 147-148). "Bohio", which in the language of the Arawak-speaking Indians of the Antilles means a hut built of plant material, is considered by Malo de Molina to be the main type of dwelling in rural and urban settlements during the XVI century.-XVIII centuries, which was then preserved only in rural areas. The author considers the modifications of the boio made in the XIX-XX centuries to be insignificant. Based on his own field materials, he describes in detail the design of the boio, its types and variants ^.1

A. Diaz and E. G. Alexandrenkov belong to the section "Methods and means of human and cargo transportation", the main source of which was the materials collected in 1982-1986 by A. Diaz, as well as field observations by E. G. Alexandrenkov. First, the authors describe the selected object of study in the pre-colonial period and at the first stage of colonization. The growth and improvement of communications occurs in the XVIII-XIX centuries, which is partly reflected in the means of transportation and related elements. Note that it seems unjustified to call a two-wheeled cart "carreta" a cart (p. 171, 178), despite the fact that it really corresponds to the latter in design.

At first, rail transport was widespread in the central provinces. Almost complete disappearance of cabotage occurred in the first quarter of the XX century. Interesting information about oxen-the main agricultural animal, pack transportation, improved travois, etc. Here is also placed material that reflects modern methods and means of moving people and cargo. The authors emphasize the existence of a "fork-shaped travois" in Cuba (pp. 189-191, 194, fig. 23 and 24 on pages 196-197) ² .

"Tools of agriculture "(authors E. Tirado Toirak and E. G. Alexandrenkov) is a very thorough study that deserves high praise. The authors examined the historiography of the issue, Aboriginal agriculture, colonial and postcolonial agriculture. Spanish peasants appear in Cuba, probably in the second half of the XVI century, at the same time plowing tools begin to be mentioned, but the main agricultural tools, at least in estancias, remain hoes, among others - "Biscay" (p. 217). The "Creole" or "wooden ralo" (arado criollo, arado de palo) spread in the late 18th century, possibly due to immigrants from the Canary Islands, because, according to the authors, it is associated with the type of" radial ralo "(arado radial), which " prevailed in Basque, Navarre,

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It was found in the western regions of the peninsula and on the Canary Islands" (pp. 222-223). A classification of Cuban agricultural implements is given. Of great interest are the data on the spatial and chronological dynamics of tools from 1959 to 1988-the result of machine processing of information collected as a result of a mass survey (1988). This analysis gives us information about the distribution of tools on the island before 1959, and also allows us to judge certain aspects of modern ergology of Cuba by the following criteria: provinces. Note the existence of the term of Basque origin "laya"for forks with two, three, four or five teeth. They were not widespread on the island, but it is interesting that today the rate of use of barks in the provinces of Matanzas (four-toothed) and Villa Clara (trident) has changed from medium to high (pp. 232, 246-247) ^.3

E. Gonzalez Noriega and N. Nunez Gonzalez wrote the Food section using a wide range of field materials. The authors proposed to classify traditional food using a "functional criterion", i.e." taking into account not the meals themselves, not their composition and methods of preparation, but based on the social function that they carry, motivating human relationships " (p.265). Refraining from giving an unambiguous answer about the origin of a particular dish of modern Cuban cuisine, the authors made an "ethnohistorical excursion" (p. 271-276). E. Gonzalez Noriega and N. Nunez Gonzalez identified the following types of meals: "everyday or everyday meals", "meals on occasion", " festive and mourning family meals", "festive public meals". Some aspects of food intake noted by the authors are of interest: norms of behavior at the table, kitchen utensils, changes that occurred after the revolution, etc. Perhaps the most interesting data are presented by the authors in the regional analysis of Cuban food.

M. V. Stanyukovich prepared the section " Food (based on the materials of the 1987 expedition)". It collected information in the provinces of Granma, Pinar del Rio and others. In addition, more than 50 herbarium sheets were collected (material on the consumption of wild medicinal plants that was not included in the article). In addition to interesting information on the topic and a great idea to compare Cuban and Filipino food culture, the undoubted advantage of the section is that it is convenient to read. During the work, the author was mainly interested in the model and type of nutrition, but M. V. Stanyukovich is in no hurry to generalize: "The most significant distortions of the traditional food model are related to the shortage of meat and sugar, which the country had in the past" (p. 316). The author describes the aspects of the Cuban life cycle that interest her here. It is interesting that " almost all informants noted that in their childhood boiled milk was widely used for food, and sour cream, butter, cheese, and in some places yogurt were made at home. All this is a thing of the past, and now only pregnant women, children and the elderly have enough milk" (pp. 322-323).

A very interesting part of the section is devoted to comparing the food of the rural population of Cuba with the food of the Filipinos. It is made with the use of field materials collected by the author in the Philippines in 1995. The common features of Cuba and the Philippines are described very figuratively, for example, "Havana and Manila cigars, which have no competitors in the world, have been arguing for primacy for many centuries" (p. 326) or " Cuba and the Philippines-alpha and omega Spanish colonial expansion " (p. 327). It notes the commonality of the main stock of cultivated plants in Cuba and the Philippines, the prestige of "Spanish food" in the manuals on Philippine cuisine, etc.

The section "Clothing" was written by A. A. Borodatova, who used her own ethnographic material collected in Cuba in 1987. The author is primarily interested in the traditional clothing of the Cuban peasantry, as well as the clothing of the urban population, "since due to the historical features of the development of Cuba, both rural costume and the local peasantry themselves were "born in cities "" (p. 340). A list of the main elements of the Cuban costume is given. Very interesting information about the technique of making and function of the costume. The author examines the Cuban costume in three aspects: ethnic, socio-economic and ecological. In the author's opinion, the ethnically distinctive function of clothing in Cuba was manifested twice: in the XVI century (the clash of Spaniards with the local population) and at the beginning of the XX century (during the Haitian immigration) (p.349). The author gives characteristics of the "Native American" and Spanish components, as well as the Afro-Cuban component. Interesting data on current trends in costume. The article analyzes the role of clothing in the life cycle, ritual costume, and ecological aspect of the Cuban costume. The author believes that in the mountainous regions of the old costume

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it was preserved longer, and in the flat-coastal zone, especially on the coast, traditions were less adhered to. For further research, according to the author, the most interesting value orientations in the field of clothing, but "many ideas related to this sphere are scattered and usually thoroughly veiled; most often they are outside the official folklore (the sphere of "indecent")" (p.367).

E. G. Alexandrenkov wrote "Conclusion: The Dynamics of culture in the light of Cuban materials". The question of the direction of cultural transformation permeates the entire book, and, as rightly noted, the example of agricultural tools, housing, food, means of transport can be seen in the significant dynamics of elements and complexes of rural Cuban culture in the past and present. This dynamic is also affected by crisis situations. Another important question is raised - about the traditional nature of culture, because "in Cuban materials it is not always possible to detect the 'ethnic load' of one or another layer of culture" (p.378). According to E. G. Alexandrenkov, " the study of the ethnic history of Cuba shows that those elements and, moreover, cultural complexes that at the time of research seem to the ethnographer to be old (traditional) and even replaced by new ones, in fact, were not always such and, moreover, could have appeared relatively recently. That is, traditional culture itself, as a set of seemingly stable elements of culture, is constantly subject to multidirectional changes" (p.379).

Let's summarize. Of course, I would like to see more illustrations and a greater connection between the text and the drawings that we managed to put in the book. It remains to be regretted that the material covering fishing methods was not included in the monograph. There is no glossary, which probably would eliminate some inconsistencies in the use of certain terms, but, on the other hand, its absence gave the sections independence, which can be considered as a virtue. At the same time, there is a section in the book where there are no necessary comments on terms that are not clear to everyone, for example, "nomenclador" (p.58), "realeng land" (p. 93).

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate all the authors of the monograph on their undoubted creative success. The book's value for ethnographic science will certainly be repeatedly confirmed.

Notes

¹ It is interesting that the Basque charcoal burners of Mount Alogni in southern Gipuzkoa had a T-shaped hut as early as 1916: "The front section serves as a resting place; in the second section, one end is reserved for the kitchen and the other for the bedroom. The roof rests on poles and slingshots and is covered with turf or turf ("zotalak"), and a free space is left over the hearth " (Caro Baroja J. Los Vascos. Madrid, 1971. P. 171).

² Note that in the south of Galicia, the "rastra" or "zorra" was common - a V-shaped wooden travois with crossbars connecting the sides. The same type of travois is found in the Spanish Pyrenees ("arba", "rastra", "estiras", etc.), in Andorra such a travois had two sides-boards. See: de Aranzadi T. Aperos de labranza y sus aledanos textiles y pastoriles / / Folklore y costumbres de Espana. T. 1. Barcelona, 1943. P. 317-318; Violant i Simorra R. El Pirineo espanol. Madrid, 1949. P. 446^47.

³ X's remark is of interest. Caro Barohi on the Basque laya (always two-pronged): "In a technical sense, working with laya was preferred over the old plow in many settlements, where in the XIX century it was almost completely abandoned. The explanation for this preference lies solely in the small-scale ownership and intensive farming of the region and has nothing to do with the so-called cultural "backwardness". It would be more backward to use a "modern" tool of labor without any practical need, just because it is such " (Caro Baroja J. Los Vascos. P. 144).

Literature

Caro Baroja J. Los Vascos. Madrid, 1971. P. 171.

de Aranzadi T. Aperos de labranza у sus aledanos textiles у pastoriles // Folklore у costumbres de Espana. T. 1. Barcelona, 1943. P. 317 - 318.

Violant i Simorra R. El Pirineo espanol. Madrid, 1949. P. 446 - 447.

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