MODERN STATE OF THE BASHKIR PEOPLE’S EPIC

(based on folklore expeditions)

Abstract

Bashkir folklore is a rich heritage of the people, passed down from generation to generation, as an irreplaceable source of knowledge. The history, beliefs, way of life, rituals, customs and other phenomena from the life of the people were reflected in the works of oral and poetic creativity of the Bashkirs in the artistic form. Folklore serves as an invaluable source of study of many aspects of spiritual culture. At the present time, there is an increasing interest in folk art. Work is actively continuing on their search, collection, and research. Field materials are the basis of any theoretical work, it is an experimental site that gives the scientist not only new material, but also new ideas and impulses. Therefore, for the modern researcher, both in Russia and abroad, fieldwork is an important component of their professional activity, as well as significant activity in the field of ethnic self-awareness. At the present time, it is still quite possible to record rarely performed folk songs, baits, munazhats, takmaks, folk games, rituals; legends continue to exist, while fairy tales and epics are less common.The article focuses on the study of the modern state of the Bashkir folk epic according to the materials of folklore expeditions. The purpose of the article: on the basis of the expedition materials of the 21st century, show the preservation of the epic heritage and the transmission of the oral tradition of the Bashkir people. According to the author, epic creativity is on the verge of extinction, in the memory of the people basically only some information remained, and informants transmit the plot of the work in only a few sentences. And epic works can not be recorded now, even in the places of their supposed creation.Studying modern field materials, the author comes to the conclusion that at the present time informants most often recall, albeit episodically, incomplete, the plot of the epics “Zayatulyak and Khuukhylu”, “Kuzykurkupyach and Mayanyhylu”, “Alpamysh”, “Ural Batyr”. But, the works in modern conditions gradually lost their poetic form and function mainly as prose works.

References

1. Juldybaeva G. V. “Ural batyr” ҡobajyry halyҡ hәterendә. In: “Ural-batyr” i duhovnoe nasledie narodov mira [“Ural batyr” and spiritual heritage of world people]: materialy II Mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii, posvjashhennoj Godu ukreplenija mezhnacional’nogo soglasija v Respublike Bashkortostan. Ufa, IIJaL UNC RAN, 2011, pp. 106-107. (In Bashkir lang.)
2. Bilalov B. Z. Nekotorye dopolnenija k bashkirskomu narodnomu jeposu (kubairu) “Ural-batyr” [Some addition to Bashkir national epic (kubair) “Ural Batyr”]. In: “Ural-batyr” i duhovnoe nasledie narodov mira: materialy II Mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii, posvjashhennoj Godu ukreplenija mezhnacional’nogo soglasija v Respublike Bashkortostan. Ufa, IIJaL UNC RAN, 2011, pp. 36-37.
3. Sultangareeva R. A. Velikij jepos “Ural-batyr”: najden variant zhivogo ispolnenija [Great epic “Ural Batyr”: variation of live narration is found]. In: Mir Vostoka i Mir Zapada: problemy i perspektivy: materialy Mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii. Ufa, UGUJeS, 2015, pp. 413-417.
4. Sultangareeva R. A. Bashkirskoe skazitel’skoe iskusstvo: tradicii i sovremennost’ [Bashkir narration art: traditions and modernity]. Ufa, Poligrafdizajn, 2012, 296 p.
5. Husainova G. R. Bashkirskij narodnyj jepos i ego sovremennoe sostojanie [Bashkir national epic and its current state]. In: Jepicheskoe nasledie i duhovnye praktiki v proshlom i nastojashhem: Sb. statej / otv. red. V. I. Haritonova. Moscow, IJeA RAN, 2013, pp. 104-111.
6. Materialy jekspedicii – 2004: Al’sheevskij rajon [Expedition materials – 2004: Alsheevsky disrtict] / sost. G. R. Husainova, R. A. Sultangareeva, G. V. Juldybaeva, F. F. Gajsina. Ufa, RB MM RUGMU, 2006, 234 p. (In Bashkir lang.).
7. Ahmadrahimova O. V. O sovremennom bytovanii bashkirskogo narodnogo jeposa “Zajatuljak i Hyuhylu” [About current existence of Bashkir national epic “Zajatuljak i Hyuhylu”]. In: Literatura i hudozhestvennaja kul’tura tjurkskih narodov v kontekste Vostok-Zapad: materialy mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii. Kazan’, Otechestvo, 2015, pp. 21-24.
8. Bashkirskoe narodnoe tvorchestvo: Jepos [Bashkir national creation: epic] / sost. A. M. Sulejmanov; avt. vstupit. st. M. M. Sagitov. Ufa, Kitap, 1998, Vol. 3, pp. 366-367. (In Bashkir lang.)
9. Hosejenova G. R. «Ҡuzyjkurpes menen Majanһylyu» jeposy hezerge jazmala. In: “Ural-batyr” i duhovnoe nasledie narodov mira [“Ural batyr” and spiritual heritage of world people]: materialy Mezhdunarodnoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii, posvjashhennoj 100-letiju zapisi jeposa “Ural-batyr”. P. 2. Ufa, FGBUN IIJaL UNC RAN, 2010, pp. 153-156. (In Bashkir lang.)
10. Juldybaeva G. V. Bashkirskie jeposy v sovremennoj zapisi [Bashkir epics in modern record]. In: Aktual’nye problemy sovremennoj tatarskoj filologii: materialy III Vserossijskoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii, posvjashhennoj 70-letiju so dnja rozhdenija R. I. Valeeva. Ufa, BashGU, 2016, pp. 255-263.
11. Husainova G. R. Kul’turnoe nasledie bashkir i sovremennost’ [Cultural heritage of Bashkirs and modernity]. In: Materialy dlja Dos’e po vkljucheniju bashkirskih kubairov cikla “Ural-batyr” v Spisok shedevrov nematerial’nogo nasledija chelovechestva / pod red. F. G. Hisamitdinovoj, F. A. Nadrshinoj. Ufa, IIJaL UNC RAN, 2013, pp. 22.
12. Sovremennyj fol’klor bashkir severnogo Bashkortostana [Modern folklore of Northern Bashkirs] / Avtor-sost., avtor vstup. stat’i, sost. slovarja dialektnyh slov G. V. Juldybaeva. Ufa, OOO “Delovaja dinastija”, 2008, 160 p.
13. Jekspedicionnye materialy – 2009: Burzjanskij rajon [Expedition materials – 2009: Burzhansky district] / Sost. G. R. Husainova, G. V. Juldybaeva, A. M. Hakim’janova. Ufa, IIJaL UNC RAN, 2011, 208 p.
14. Jekspedicionnye materialy – 2011: Uchalinskij rajon [Expedition materials – 2011: Uchalinsky district] / Sost. G. R. Husainova, G. V. Juldybaeva. Ufa, IIJaL UNC RAN, 2012, 156 p.
15. Duhovnoe nasledie: fol’klor sverdlovskih bashkir [Spiritual heritage: folklore of Sverdlovsk Bashkirs] / Sost. F. A. Nadrshina, G. R. Husainova, G. V. Juldybaeva, F. F. Gajsina. Ufa, OOO “Delovaja dinastija”, 2008, 260 p. (In Bashkir. lang.)