Занимательная этнография буднего дня

V knigu Lʹva Mint͡sa (1937-2011), zamechatelʹnogo ėtnografa, odnogo iz vedushchikh avtorov zhurnala "Vokrug sveta" v poru ego naibolʹsheĭ populi͡arnosti, voshli kak izvestnye chitateli͡am, tak i prezhde ne publikovavshiesi͡a ocherki. O chem by Mint͡s ni rasskazyval, on obrashchal vnimanie na takie melochi nat͡sionalʹnogo byta, mimo kotorykh chasto prokhodi͡at drugie ėtnografy. I poputno otvechal na voprosy: kak perevoditsi͡a poni͡atie "khleb nasushchnyĭ" na i͡azyki severnykh narodov, pochemu u vʹetnamt͡sev v detstve odno imi͡a, a kogda oni vzroslei͡ut - drugoe, kak poi͡avilosʹ v russkom i͡azyke slovo "kolgotki", kakim obrazom syrai͡a ryba ukazyvaet na proiskhozhdenie i͡apont͡sev, pochemu indeĭt͡sy navakho poddelyvai͡ut svi͡ashchennye kukly-kachinos indeĭt͡sev khopi… Vse, chto on pisal, uvlekatelʹno, i ėta kniga ne iskli͡uchenie. Kulʹtura povsednevnosti v izlozhenii Mint͡sa predstaet rossypʹi͡u pouchitelʹnykh istoriĭ - poroĭ zabavnykh, poroĭ grustnykh, no nikogda skuchnykh. Kniga "Zanimatelʹnai͡a ėtnografii͡a budnego dni͡a" - ėto otlichnai͡a nauchno-poznavatelʹnai͡a literatura, v ravnoĭ stepeni dostupnai͡a dli͡a deteĭ i poleznai͡a dli͡a vzroslykh.

The book by Lev Mints (1937-2011), a remarkable ethnographer, one of the leading authors of the magazine "Around the World" at the time of its greatest popularity, includes both well-known to readers and previously unpublished essays. No matter what Mintz talked about, he paid attention to such trifles of national life, which other ethnographers often pass by. And along the way he answered questions: how is the concept of "daily bread" translated into the languages of the northern peoples, why do the Vietnamese have one name in childhood, and when they grow up — another, how did the word "tights" appear in the Russian language, how does raw fish indicate the origin of the Japanese, why do the Navajo Indians fake sacred kachinos dolls of the Hopi Indians ... Everything that he wrote, fascinatingly, and this book is no exception. The culture of everyday life in the presentation of Mintz appears as a scattering of instructive stories — sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but never boring. The book "Entertaining Ethnography of a weekday" is an excellent scientific and educational literature, equally accessible to children and useful for adults.