GENERAL TRADITIONS IN THE EPIC AND SEMANTICS OF THE TATAR RITUAL HOLIDAY SOREN

Abstract

Traditional folklore is a vast area of human activity, which is why it is important to fixate and study ethnocultural phenomena and their rethinking. This article is devoted to the study of some issues of the mutual influence of two independent areas of folklore: the pagan rite of Soren in antiquity and the no less ancient genre – the epic, identifying common problems in these areas of folk culture. Considered from the point of view of historical, mythological, artistic, aesthetic, moral, educational, socially significant criteria, ritual and epic actions that have come down to our days can be called an institution for the preservation of identity, values and creative self-expression. Revealing the early mythological ideas and historical memory of the people, recorded in the verbal epic text of the rite, for example, can play an important role in the ethnic identity of a particular nation, which is especially important for modern society. Scholarly research on this topic contributes to the creation of a balance between the process of globalization in culture and the need to preserve and maintain ethnic diversity in the modern world. The purpose of the study was to determine the common roots of the epic and the Soren rite, and from the codes preserved in ritual and epic folklore, to establish the evolving signs of the mythological consciousness of the ethnos. The main source of factual material in the study was the texts of the Turkic epic folklore, as well as the song texts performed during the said folk holiday; materials newly found during scientific expeditions were widely used, in particular – on ritual folklore. The study used comparative, structural and descriptive, historical and typological methods. The scholarly novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time, in a kind of ethnic example, the issue of integration of the epic heritage and ritual folklore is raised, the current state and transformation of the Soren calendar-ritual holiday among the Tatars is considered, new material on the ritual folklore of the Tatars is introduced into scientific circulation in comparison with samples Turkic epic. The authors' approach to the problem in a little-studied ritual-situational aspect made it possible to identify some common markers and codes that exist in the epic and ritual culture of the people. As a result of the study, the relationship between tradition and modernity in the Tatar epic and calendar-ritual folklore were characterized, some stylistic and genre-poetic commonality between ritual and epic were established, appropriate conclusions were drawn, and the topic's potential for further study of the issue were determined. 

References

1. Urazmanova R. K. Rites and holidays of the Tatars of the Volga region and the Urals (Annual cycle. XIX – early XX centuries). Kazan, Dom pechati Publ., 2001, 198 p. (In Russ.)
2. Compilers: R. Urazmanova, S. Cheshko, D. Iskhakov. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2001, 583 p. (In Russ.)
3. Iskhakova-Vamba R. A. Tatar folk music (Traditional folklore). Kazan, Tatar Book Publ. House, 1997, 264 p. (In Russ.)
4. Bakirov M. Kh. Tatar folklore. Kazan, Ikhlas Publ., 2012, 400 p. (In Russ.)
5. Mukhametzianova L. Kh. Semantics and content of ritual folklore called Soren among the Tatars. Tugerek uyin. 2021, no. 2, pp. 18–22. (In Tatar)
6. Tahir and Zuhra. In: Archive of the Center for written and musical heritage of the G. Ibragimov Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan. Folklore fund, coll. 97, folder 5, storage unit 17, 57 sh. (In Tatar)
7. Mukhametzianova L. Kh. Tatar epic: book dastans. Kazan, G. Ibrahimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Publ., 2014, 380 p. (In Russ.)
8. Field materials. Recorded from the words of Galiya Dimukhametova Farkhetdinovna (born in 1936) in village Chalpy of the Aznakaevsky district of Tatarstan in 2019. In: Personal archive of L. Kh. Mukhametzianova, K. M. Minnullin. Materials on Aznakaevsky district. 100 sh. (In Tatar)
9. Field materials. Recorded from the words of Sultanova Khidiya Makhmutovna (born in 1933) in village Sarli of the Aznakaevsky district of Tatarstan in 2019. In: Personal archive of L. Kh. Mukhametzianova, K. M. Minnullin. Materials on Aznakaevsky district. 100 sh. (In Tatar)
10. Mоxаmmаtganov R. When you are looking, you will find everything. Kazan utlary. 1977, no. 9, pp. 50–59. (In Tatar)
11. Almeeva N. Yu. On the definition of the genre system and style layers in the song tradition of the Kryashen Tatars. In: Traditional music of the peoples of the Volga and Urals region. Kazan, G. Ibrahimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Publ., 1989, pp. 7–11. (In Russ.)
12. Ibragimova L. Kh. Epic “Chura Batyr” in the creativity of the Turkic peoples. Kazan, Fiker Publ., 2002, 192 p. (In Tatar)
13. Songs of Soren. Recorded from the words of Zulkhabira Faritovna Izhbirdieva (born in 1929) in village Kilinchi of Privolzhsky district of the Astrakhan region in 2011. In: Personal archive of L. Kh. Mukhametzianova, K. M. Minnullin. 67 sh. (In Tatar)
14. Zhirmunsky V. M. Rhythmic-syntactic parallelism as the basis of the ancient Turkic folk epic verse. Voprosy Jazykoznanija. 1964, no. 4, pp. 27–52. (In Russ.)
15. Nurakhunova G. M. Alliterative repetitions in Turkic verse. Advances in current natural sciences. 2015, no. 1-1, pp. 156–159. (In Russ.)
16. Janysh. Baesh (Samples of the epic). Prepared for publication S. Zakirov. Frunze, Kyrgyzstan Publ., 1970, 384 p. (In Kyrgyz)
17. Bakirov M. Cradle of poetry. The origin of common Turkic poetry and its most ancient forms. Kazan, Mаgarif Publ., 2001, 343 p. (In Tatar)
18. National and cultural heritage. Kukmara (From the treasure of scientific expeditions). Compiler and scientific editor M. R. Bulatova. Kazan, G. Ibrahimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Publ., 2016, 428 p. (In Tatar)