Forms of artistic knowledge in the Yakut olonkho

Abstract

The aim of this work is to highlight the main forms and specifics of artistic, figurative cognition in the Yakut olonkho. In the world and Russian literature, the following concepts are introduced into the scholarly turnover: “rhythmic-syntactic parallelism”, “formula”, “epic formula”, “epic cliche”, “common places”, “typical places”, “tirade”, denoting important structural elements of an epic text. However, though regarded as identical concepts in many studies, these concepts are studied and defined, as a rule, separately and practically independently from each other. Therefore, the problem requires further clarification and research. These circumstances determine the relevance of the research topic. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the allocation of the main forms of artistic cognition, characteristic only for the Yakut epic, has not yet been conducted in the scholarly literature. The author believes that the main forms of artistic figurative cognition in the Yakut Olonkho are as follows: the rhythmic-syntactic parallelism, epic formula, and the epic tirade. In the epics of other nations, other forms of artistic cognition are possible, but this question is not yet the subject of our consideration. Based on the dialectics of philosophical categories of essence and phenomenon, the author gives more precise definitions of these forms of artistic cognition in the olonkho. Based on specific examples found in a variety of published texts of the olonkho, the author substantiates his assumption that they are specific forms of artistic cognition in the olonkho. The epicteller-improviser, perfectly mastering this almost ready, centuries-honed, polished set of rhythmic-syntactic parallelisms, epic formulas and rants and creatively developing them, created his unique works. The author emphasizes that these forms of artistic cognition are not fixed speech constructions, but are changing, developing in time, dynamic forms of artistic figurative thinking, which can also be explained through the dialectic of categories of the singular, the general and the particular. This means that in each particular case, in each unique text of the olonkho, we find the same content and essence of rhythmic-syntactic parallelisms, epic formulas and epic rants. Yet they also necessarily reflect the regional specificity of the local-territorial school of narrators and the personal uniqueness of a particular narrator. The work uses the methods of philosophical dialectics, comparison and scientific analysis.

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