CONTRIBUTION OF NIKOLAY EMELYANOV TO THE STUDYING OF MOTIFS OF THE YAKUT HEROIC EPIC

Abstract

The article is devoted to the assessment of the contribution of N. V. Emelyanov, a Yakut folklorist, Doctor of Philology, in the study of the plot and motifs of the heroic epic olonkho. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the systematization of plots and motifs of the Yakut heroic epic, begun by N. V. Emelyanov, is a fundamental scholarly work that requires proper assessment and continuation, deepening of research on this topic. The theory of motif in folklore is still ambiguous, and the determination of the position of Yakut researchers on this issue is also relevant. The purpose of the article was to evaluate the contribution of N. V. Emelyanov to the identification and systematization of the motifs of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho. The methods of structural, comparative typological analysis were used. It was revealed that the theoretical approaches of A. N. Veselovsky, V. Ya. Propp, B. N. Putilov, E. M. Meletinsky, S. Yu. Neklyudov had a great influence in folklore based on the motif. Their ideas also influenced the research works of N. V. Emelyanov. As a result of many years of painstaking work on the basis of archival materials, the olonkho was systematized according to plot and thematic groups: about the settlement of the Middle World by the Uraanghai Sakha tribes; about the ancestors of the Uraanghai Sakha; about the defenders of the Aiyy Aimaga tribe. According to N. V. Emelyanov, these groups represent the evolutionary development of olonkho plots. Typological similarities between the motifs of olonkho and historical legends about the settlement of the first ancestors of the Yakuts in the Lena River valley were found. The stability of the compositional structure of the plot of the Yakut heroic epic, which is characterized by certain plot motifs, was noted. It was established that N. V. Emelyanov considered the motif as a constituent part, a component of the plot and identified 139 motifs, which he divided into several groups and types: main, subordinate, specific, episodic motifs – according to their meaning in the plot; epic and fabulous motifs – by genesis; archaic, Christian and social – by strata. The works of N. V. Emelyanov had a great influence on subsequent research on the plot and motifs of the Yakut heroic epic. In the future, research should be carried out on the reception of N. V. Emelyanov's ideas in the works of modern epic scholars.

Acknowledgements: This paper was prepared with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Grant No. 19-012-00170 “Yakut folklorists: a biobibliographic dictionary”.

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