SMALL FOLK POETIC FORMS OF BURYAT EPIC “ABAY GESER BOGDO KHAAN”

The article studies the axiological aspect of small folklore genres used in the poetic system of the Buryat epos of Geser. It reveals their national identity, functional features and value-oriented focus in the Buryat epic Abai Geser Bogdo khaan written down by the famous Buryat researcher S. P. Baldaev from the talented narrator Alfor Vasilev, better known as Alforov’s version (the epos was published in the Buryat language in 1995). The epic is famous for its deep content, original composition, colorful language, vivid imagery and “high style” features. There are different-genre folklore elements in the artistic canvas of the Buryat heroic epic: praises (magtals), good wishes (urols), proverbs (onihon ugenud), sayings (khoshoo ugenud), curses (haral) and others. The analysis showed that their national originality reveals itself in the content, themes, and structure. The small poetic forms are organically integrated into the compositional structure of the epic, performing various functions: describing the characters, serving as strings of the plot, being used in the beginning of the narrative, in the end of some episodes, expressing the emotional state of the characters. The relevance of the issue studied in the article lies in the fact that the small folklore genres reflect the peculiarity of the material and spiritual culture of the Buryat people. With the help of expressive epithets and other poetic means in these forms of folklore culturally valuable for the traditional society stereotypes are created. We can conclude that the small genres of poetic folklore of the Buryat people, along with the major genres, actively participate in the preservation of national identity. It is established that the considered formulaic expressions contribute to the movement of the epic events of the dramatic character, they are involved in heroic situations, and are completely subordinated to the disclosure of the epic genre content. In the frame of heroic tales small folklore poetic forms gain epic coloring and character, thus becoming an integral part of the structural-poetic system of the epos. They do not lose their cognitive, social, aesthetic and educational value even at present.

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