Khomus in the historical memory of Yakutia

Abstract

The formation of a new historical memory with the transformation of commemorative practices in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is primarily aimed at rethinking old practices and introducing new memory mechanisms. This process began at the end of the twentieth century throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation. It should be noted that in addition to the beginning of the formation of a new all-Russian historical memory, local manifestations of memory associated with local peoples and their culture are being formed. In this article, we will try to consider this process of changing historical memory, precisely using the methods of concentration of memory sites, with one of the clearest examples of commemoration – the Yakut khomus, which can be considered one of the national symbols of Yakutia. The main method in this work is the methods of historical memory research, namely the methods of studying places of memory. In this work, for the first time, an attempt is made to explain through the concept of places of memory of Pierre Nora, which place in the historical memory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is occupied by the khomus, which is one of the main musical instruments of the Sakha people. The Yakuts do not have such extensive musical instruments, compared with the peoples of Altai and Central Asia, the Yakuts are rich in oral folk and song creativity, which makes the khomus one of the main musical instruments of the people. The khomus, being a harp instrument, one of the oldest types of musical instruments, has passed through the centuries and has practically not changed its appearance, only technologies and production methods will be changed. The commemorative processes that occur with khomus are very interesting for scientists to study and consider.