Об указателе эпических мотивов (к опыту составления)

Abstract

Introduction. The article considers and analyzes efforts of domestic and foreign folklore specialists to compile indexes of folklore genres. So far there is no universal index to have united epic materials of various cultures. The index of epic motifs being developed is based on texts of six songs of the Baγa-Tsokhor and Baγa-Dorbet cycles of the Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar recorded in the mid- and late 19th century. Goals. The work aims to develop principles and methods of compiling an index of motifs traced within the early cycles of the Kalmyk epos of Jangar (Baγa-Tsokhor and Baγa-Dorbet ones). Methods. A structural-semantic approach allows to study this perspective in detail, to disclose semantics of a certain motif and more widely consider a motif fund of the Kalmyk epic tradition which will is, in turn, compared with the all-Mongolic epic fund of motifs. Results. The research identifies three motif blocks, namely: ‘epic time and space’, ‘a feast of heroes’ and ‘the hero’s biography’ that also to be divided into separate motifs. The first block, ‘epic time and space’, reflects motifs of an epic prolog ― the ‘exposition motifs’ which are least dynamic within an epos plot. The early cycles contain sizeable epic prologues which make a third in some epic songs. Motifs of a prologue most informatively reflect a picture of the world, give important information and serve as codes for interpretation of cosmogonical representations of the ethnos. The second block of motifs, a feast of heroes’, contains the ‘linking motifs’ facilitating further deployment of a plot. A feast in the Kalmyk epic serves a starting point of an epic plot. A message about intentions of antagonists predicted by the prophet or an antagonist hero to have arrived to a feast acts as a dynamic beginning of the sequence of events. This is followed by that a hero to tackle the challenge is determined by a lot or self-promotion. And it is here that the place and time of another meeting of heroes is discussed. The feast comes to an end after a departure of the chosen hero. Pictures of the feast in a prologue and a final part are similar. The third block of motifs, ‘the hero’s biography’, reveals stages in the biography of the epic hero and contains sections, such as miraculous birth, heroic childhood, marriage collisions, combat collisions, death. This block contains the main standard motifs, most dynamic ‘event motifs’, ‘motifs of action’. Conclusions. The Baγa-Tsokhor and Baγa-Dorbet cycles of the Jangar represent the earliest records (19th century) the Kalmyk heroic epic. The cycles retain a rich archaic motif fund stemming from mythology and preceding epic traditions. Systematization of epic motifs is based on the biographic description of an epic character and is constructed according to a song plot.