EPIC TRADITION OF ABYI DISTRICT: IMAGE SYSTEM AND SUBJECT STRUCTURE (based on the folklore expedition of 2018)

This article addresses the problem of regional traditions in the Yakut olonkho. The Abyisky epic tradition, which is included in the northern branch of the Yakut storytelling, is considered. A brief history of the study of folklore, especially olonkho, in Abyisky District is given. Consistent collection of materials of folklore was carried out by the Institute of Language and Culture in 1940s. Employees of the Institute A. A. Savvin and G. M. Vasiliev preserved full texts and plots of olonkho. Employees of the Research Institute of Olonkho, M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, were able to record the texts of olonkho of modern authors; they also managed to record information about the Olonkho-tellers of Abyisky District, legends and much more. The study was conducted on the basis of collected materials of a folklore expedition in Abyisky District in 2018. The aim of the article is to study the characteristics of the Abyi epic tradition. The task is to investigate the images and plots of the olonkho of this tradition. The source base served two texts of G. F. Nikulin’s olonkho “Eris Khallaan uola Er Sogotokh” and N. V. Sleptsov’s “Ereydeeh-Buruydaah Er Sogotokh”. The images of the main characters of the olonkho of the Abya are considered. The main characters in the two texts of the olonkho of the tradition under study are the lonely heroes of Er Sogotokh. Analyzed own and studied the portrait characteristics of the characters. In the second part of the article, there is a study of similarities between Ereydeeh-Buruydaah Er Sogotokh and Erbakhchin Mergen tradition. Following the comparison of the plots of two olonkho, the authors came to the following conclusions: these olonkho texts are variations of one olonkho. Olonkho “Er Sogotokh” can be considered an earlier performing version of olonkho. Olonkho “Erbahchin Mergen” is more developed because it has a complete plot-compositional structure, the main and secondary heroes are their own, their characters and features are more elaborated, etc. The authors conclude that of the Abyi epic tradition have archaic traditions features of the epic.

Acknowledgements: The research is financially supported by the RFFR, project No. 16-06-00505 а.

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