REINDEER AS A SYMBOL OF IDENTITY OF ARCTIC NOMADIC CULTURES IN AUTHOR DOCUMENTARY FILMS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the image of the reindeer in the ethnographic documentary films of Yakutia. The sources of the on-screen image of the deer were modern author’s films made about three Arctic regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where the Polar Yakuts, Evens and Dolgans live. Reindeer husbandry, which is the main ethno-forming type of agricultural production in the Arctic regions, has made it possible to preserve the traditional nomadic culture of peoples. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the deer image-symbol in documentary films. In the course of the study, a multifaceted representation of the image of a deer on the screen has been established. The films vividly represent the special role of the deer in the spiritual culture of northern minorities. The directors pay great attention to the culinary description, since the deer is one of the sources of food. Being a means of transportation, deer in the films is opposed to such a symbol of technogenic culture as a snowmobile. Plots depicting folk craftswomen, national clothes, speak of the influence of the role of a deer in everyday life on the development of its image in culture. Both in material and spiritual culture, deer and man are spatially equivalent. The indigenous peoples of the North endow the deer with human qualities, spiritualize and value its appearance.