The Ossetian Funeral and Memorial Traditions in the Pandemic Conditions

The modern transformations of the traditional rituals of the Ossetian life cycle, funeral and memorial rituals, are studied on the basis of a comparative analysis of written sources and the author’s field material. A significant place in the study is occupied by the characterization of changes in the ancient tradition, its transformational forms that have developed under the pressure of emergency situations, in particular the recent pandemic. The results of the study allow us to draw conclusions about a sufficiently high degree
of stability of the «core», which made it possible to preserve the ritual in conditions of danger, as well as about the adaptive ability of the protective «belt», which gave rise to updated models. Monitoring of the studied issues will allow, in our opinion, to determine the specific prospects of some innovations, the degree of their implementation in the ritual practices of the modern Ossetians.