YAKUT EPIC HERITAGE AND ITS INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATIONS

(1970s- beginning of the 21st century)

Abstract

The article is a review of translations of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho into Russian and foreign languages. The review captures a large period, from Soviet times to the present. For the first time, such a study included unknown and little-known translations, as well as reviews on translations. The need to preserve and popularize the Yakut cultural heritage, represented by outstanding works of the Yakut classics, is confirmed by the history of Russia and of all mankind. The relevance of translation projects is due to the fact that in 2005 UNESCO recognized the Yakut heroic epic olonkho as a Masterpiece of the Oral Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which, in turn, caused attention to olonkho in different countries. This fact inspired an interest to Yakut epic worldwide and stimulated translations of it into various languages and the research of these translations that supposed to be a tool for Northern cultural heritage preservation.

The significance of translations of the olonkho epic is determined by the features of the development of traditional communities at the present stage, their cultural heritage, which is in danger of extinction, is of particular concern. Olonkho – the ancient heroic epic of the Yakuts – is one of the brightest examples of the archaic folk epic. The olonkho formed the ideas of the Yakut people about the universe, a system of moral values, traditional beliefs and customs, the originality of language and culture. Particularly relevant is the question of the features of the translation of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho into the world languages. The uniqueness of the artistic world and the language of the epic olonkho determines the extreme complexity of its translation and significantly distinguishes it from all other kinds of literature. At the end of the twentieth century the Yakut heroic epic olonkho spoke not only in Russian, but also in other languages ​​of the world. This paper considers translations of the Yakut epic olonkho into Russian, English, French, Korean, in particular, the full-text English translation of the olonkho Nurgun Bootur the Swift by P. A. Oyunsky; translations of olonkho Eles Bootur by P. V. Ogotoev and other epic texts. Translators of German, Turkish and Japanese also paid attention to various olonkho texts.

Literature

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