Heroic tales in the folklore tradition of the Chinese Tuvans

Abstract

The folklore tradition of the Chinese Tuvans until the beginning of the 21^st century is a living and functioning system. A special place in it is occupied by the heroic epic-uzun tool. The article analyzes the specifics of the existence of heroic tales at the present stage. The epic tradition of the Chinese Tuvans today is represented by local versions of Tuvan tales that are known to Russian and Mongolian Tuvans. The heroic tales of the Chinese Tuvans have signs of a single common Tuvan epic tradition, but at the same time they have features of enclave variation of texts. In the modern existence of the epic tradition, in most cases, stable epic formulas, mythological representations, artistic and visual means, lexical and stylistic features, compositional structure, ethnopoetic constants and formulas of legends are preserved, which are characteristic not only of the general Tuvan, but also of the South Siberian epic tradition. However, we have to state that in the age of scientific and technological progress and globalization, there are no interested listeners of tales, except for one elderly storyteller, no one knows how to perform tales in the traditional recitative form, and performers who know epic works in prose form also remain few. The article describes the repertoire of modern performers who have recorded heroic tales in verse and prose forms; briefly describes the degree of study and fixation of epic works among Russian and Chinese Tuvans. The author reveals the ritual side of the performing tradition in the past, defines the prohibitions and regulations in the storytelling tradition that must be observed by both listeners and storytellers. During field research, we noted that today most of the prohibitions and regulations, except for individual ones, are no longer observed due to the fading tradition of storytelling, they remained only in the memory of elderly people who witnessed the performance of uzun tool by talented storytellers. The article considers the gradual transformation of the genres of tales into the category of fairy tales, in which the specific features of the heroic epic are lost, namely, the poetic form and manner of performance (recitative and melodious).

Acknowledgments: the article was prepared with the financial assistance of RFBR grant No. 18-012-00400a «Modern epic tradition of Chinese Tuvans. Texts and materials»

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