Publications of Altai Fairy Tales and Heroic Legends in Context of Construction of 1920—1980s Soviet Politics of Memory

Abstract

The issue of Altai fairy tales and heroic legends in the context of the 1920—1980s Soviet politics of memory is considered. Attention is paid to the participation of carriers of folklore traditions, folklorists, translators, writers, poets and editors in the creation of collections of Altai fairy tales. The specificity of their activities at different historical stages is characterized. The relevance of the study is due to the growing scientific and public interest in oral folk art in connection with the formation and development of the cultural memory of the peoples of Russia as the basis of social identities. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that the publication of editions of Altai folk tales and heroic legends, collected, processed and published in Soviet times, is considered as a means of forming the cultural memory of Altai and other peoples of our country about the historical past of Altai Mountains. The authors note that Altai fairy tales, the publications of which have experienced a serious impact of the state politics of memory, have become the property of book culture rather than a living tradition of oral folk art. It is shown that in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods, book editions of fairy tales in the mass consciousness began to be perceived as a significant source for the interpretation of the historical past of the Altai ethnos.