The relevance of the research topic lies in the hermeneutical study of the long-standing practice of researching the epic heritage in Soviet and post-Soviet folklore studies. The article notes that despite the dominance of individual methodological approaches, in particular, the poetic and typological directions, traces of the historical study of the epic have been preserved in the Kazakh epic studies.
   The purpose of this article, covering the process of studying various methodological settings, is to disclose the main reason why the academic postulates of the historical school of folklore were supposedly considered obsolete. To this end, an academic excursion is made into the field of folklore of the 20th and 21st centuries, various views of individual scholars are subjected to critical analysis, some of which have grown into dominant methodological guidelines.

   The main objective of the article is to determine the possibilities of poetic and ethnic research methods in revealing the cognitive essence of the heroic epic. For this purpose, the methodological capabilities of the typological method are singled out. The academic works of the researchers who have done academic research in the framework of this method are analyzed. Separate miscalculations are noted, expressed in the form of using one methodological framework formulated in the study of the epic heritage of one culture in relation to another. The main differences of the epic heritage of the Slavic and Turkic peoples are indicated: in one case, catoykonyms predominate, in the other, ethnonyms. Against this background, the ethnic character of the Kazakh epic is described.

   This article discusses epic formulas found in typical places of a heroic legend by I. Ya. Arbachakov and L. N. Arbachakova, who transcribed audio tapes by different native speakers of the Shor language and prepared for publication under the names Meret-oolak and Meret Olak with a magic horse. The topic of the article is relevant due to the fact that at present, Siberian folklorists have been given the task of authentic demonstration of epic texts and their deep textological study. Relying on the archival audio recording of the studied legend as the only source that can rightfully be called primary, we observed the main principle of practical textology – the authenticity of the research material. In this article, we compare epic formulas (fixed expressions) that are present in two transcripts of the same recording of the epic legend about the hero Meret Olak.
   The academic novelty lies in the fact that for the first time we analyzed and restored epic formulas and typical places that were lost during the previous transcribing of the heroic legend.
   The solution of these important issues on the Shor epic material will create the basis for comparative studies in the Siberian epic studies. In addition to these scientific results, the restoration of lost or distorted epic formulas and typical places is of great importance for the preservation of the culture and native language of the Shors. A textual analysis revealed that in I. Ya. Arbachakov’s transcript, some epic formulas were lost, partially destroyed, there are omissions of certain lines of the legend, there are also cases of influence of researchers on the content of the epic and reservations in names. All these shortcomings impoverish the reader’s view of the content and artistic language of this epic, a representative of the most important genre of Shor folklore, which is now in danger of extinction.