Cultural code in the Tuvan folklore: The case of heroic tales

Abstract

Recently, the concepts of “code” and “cultural code” have become increasingly used in the humanities. This is due, according to the author, to the fact that the code as a system of signs and a set of rules used as, according to V. A. Maslova and M. V. Pimenova, is used for encryption, decryption, storage, explanation and transmission of information about cultural phenomena or about the culture of any peoples. However, in Tuvan studies, in particular in Tuvan folklore studies, these concepts are insufficiently studied, which explains the relevance of this study. In the presented work, the author examines the cultural code in Tuvan heroic tales based on the classification given by Maslova and Pimenova. The classification of cultural codes itself is carried out in accordance with the plot order of heroic tales. The purpose of this study is to identify cultural codes found in the texts of Tuvan heroic tales. The task of the research is to describe and analyze all the cultural codes found in the epic texts of the Tuvan people. The methods and approaches used by the author to solve the tasks set were the method of continuous sampling of examples, the descriptive method, as well as the semiotic approach. This study was conducted on the material of the Tuvan heroic tales “Khunan-Kara” and “Boktug-Kirish, Bora-Sheelei”, which were included in the academic series “Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East”. The author specially chose these texts, because in Tuvan folklore studies it has been established that these materials are classical texts in artistic terms, which are not subject to any distortion and literary processing. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that Tuvan studies for the first time consider cultural codes in the texts of Tuvan heroic tales. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the following codes are used in the texts of Tuvan heroic tales: behavioral, spatial, zoomorphic, somatic, nutritional, colorative, verbal, temporal, and subject. The set of codes under consideration is primarily related to the ethnic culture, expressed by certain linguistic components. The author believes that these components are the key words that convey the meanings of cultural codes, thanks to which the essence of a phenomenon in epic texts is explained. Our material shows that the social function of cultural codes is to describe and convey to listeners the heroic tales of the inner and outer world of the main character.

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