Folk Epic Research Articles

Psychological Description Of The Avaz Image In Uzbek Epics

Every action and every word in folk epics is aimed at revealing the hero’s psyche. Unlike written literature, the epic strictly adheres to the good traditions of bakhshi. He portrays the hero in accordance with the hopes and aspirations of the people. Therefore, the creator of the epic genre is trying with all his might to comprehensively reveal the psyche, depicting the image of the main character. This article examines in detail the psychological image of the protagonist in the epic text on the example of the analysis of the image of Avaz.

Artistic Depiction Of The Image Of Avaz In The Epics “Gorogly”

This article deals with the artistic image of the image of Avaz in the epics “Gorogly”. The epic “Gorogly” is one of the most popular folk epics not only among the Uzbek and fraternal Turkic peoples, but also among the peoples of the East. There are different series of epics, among which are the epics associated with the image of Avaz. There is much in common between the Uzbek and Tajik versions of the epic Gorogly, and this similarity is manifested primarily in artistic images, in their artistic image.
 In this article, which analyzes the Uzbek and Tajik versions of the epic “Gorogly”, the issues of artistic representation of the image of Avaz are covered in detail, and we see that the means of artistic representation in the epic are based on the psyche, mythological imagination and aesthetic attitude to reality.

FOLK SPIRIT AND STYLE IN ARTISTIC CREATIVITY

The impact of the folk literature to the poetry of the Uzbek academician poet Gafur Gulam (1903 - 1966) has been learnt by this article. Through the model of the analyses of poems by the poet the inheriting interrelations between folk and written literature have been observed. The scientific-theoretical opinions on the specific depiction style of the folk melody and spirit, which was closely got acquainted with national belief and life style, that is the peculiar depiction style appropriately to the genre fairy tales and folk epics as proverbs, parable, blessings, scolding have been ahead for formulation the individual style of Gafur Gulam. KEY WORDS: Poetry, lyric feeling, sense, philosophical pithiness, folk melody, folk inspiration, folklore, inheritance, figurativeness, simplicity, coherency, motive, fairy tale, oral epic, blessing, scolding, proverb, parable, sayings, lyric character, outlook, style, folk phrase, ceremony, cross impact, individuality, authentic ideal, literary-depictive means, stanza, idea, content.

Уникальный концепт славы: девальвация ценности личной славы (молвы) в русском былинном эпосе

The article is dedicated to the concept of glory, which should be placed among the main concepts of the world’s folk epics. According to the author’s analysis (undertaken through the axiological, comparative-historical, and historical-genetic methods), glory – as rendered in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, The Mahābhārata, European and Oriental medieval epics, etc. – is most often related to the rumors about a concrete hero and emerges as a substitute of individual immortality or as a pledge of postmortem beatitude. Among nearly all known works of heroic poetry, only the Russian folk epics are fundamentally opposed to this interpretation: Bylinas don’t treat glory as a specific attribute belonging to this or that hero, but as a collective virtue of all Russian knights – the one intended to deter foreign rulers from their invasions of Russia and to protect, in this earthly world, both the divine law and suffering people. Accordingly, the article provides a comparison between different works of heroic folklore and Russian bylinas, which enables both to interpret more fully the axiological structure of the epic tradition as such (the notions of glory, honor, boasting, and rumor – the ones still insufficiently analyzed in scholarly literature and defined more precisely in the present paper), and to determine the principal originality of the Russian folk epics, their unique position among other oral songs of similar nature. In particular, a comparison between the heroic songs of Christian Europe and Russian bylinas allows the author to argue confidently that precisely the latter incarnated (in the most original and profound way, at different levels of their artistic structure, including plot, motives, and imagery) the values and the ideas of Christianity, its spiritual and moral potential.

The military theme and four elements (fundamentals) in epos “Koroglu” and “Manas”

Many folklore samples rich with heroic episodes of the Azerbaijani and Kyrgyz peoples have been engraved on the pages of history, performed with great enthusiasm at the folk ceremonies and passed from generation to generation as the oldest chronicles of history. The heroism and bravery shown by our common ancestors have the indelible traces in the eposes such as “Koroglu” and “Manas”. The history of both peoples is reflected in the mythological-semantic aspect in these heroic eposes. There is great confidence for the fire, water, air and earth here. Both Koroglu and Manas take all their strength, existence and essence from the world of myths. In this sense, the fire, water, air and earth layers of the myth world help to open the heroic spirit of epics and the history reflected here according to the Turkic way of thinking. The article analyzes the poetics of military themes and the four elements in the epics “Koroglu” and “Manas”. These epics, thanks to their high quality of work, by right take their rightful place in the list of world masterpieces. “Manas” is the most complete and widest artistic reflection of the centuries-old struggle of the Kyrgyz people for their independence and freedom, justice and a happy life. The poetic world of the Manas epic is exceptionally rich and varied. “Koroglu” is the pearl of Azerbaijani oral folk literature. The folk epic, in comparison with other types of folk poetry, has its own special artistic system.

Study of the lexicon of uzbek folk epics

Study of the lexicon of uzbek folk epics

Былинная география как пространство, размеченное смыслами

Researching the connection between place-names and their meanings as the latter are rendered in bylinas, the author tries to disprove the widespread conceptions according to which the geography presented in Russian epic songs is treated as isolated from the reality, as based on epic singers’ erroneous associations of these or those place-names and climatic zones with the four cardinal points, etc. The author concludes that many place-names rendered in bylinas may be treated as presupposing real prototypes – if it is assumed that the bylina universe is marked similarly to the artistic world of Russian spiritual verses. The fact that many bylina plots are connected with the Latyr stone enables one to consider the Holy Land – along with Constantinople, Mount Athos (known in bylinas as “the Holy Mount”), “the Caucasian Mountains”, “the Ararat Mountains”, “the Greek Land”, and “the orochinsk Mountains” – as nearly the main setting of bylina conflicts. In the author’s opinion, so as to render bylina “metahistorical” events, it was necessary to use not certain but “universal” place-names – the ones that indicated not a historicаl event, but different events brought together by the epic consciousness on the principle of spiritual analogy (for example, the image of Kalin Tsar’s invasion may reflect either the Mongol massacre of the 13th century or the Grande Armйe’s encroachment into Russia). Thus, the place-names used in Russian folk epics were of fixed value coordinates, which, in their turn, were well-known to the traditional audience – and so could be used by the epic singer in order to influence his listeners’ value centers.

The problems of Ukrainian studies of fairy tales in the paradigm of research

Studying the folk epic genres of the epic fantasy for two centuries was a discursive expression of the positions of representatives of different folkloric schools. Starting in the 19th century with commentary collections, the fairy tale genre has gained tremendous scope for study in synchrony and diachrony, affecting a wide range of tangible sciences: philosophy, history, sociology, archeology, anthropology, biology, geography, cultural studies, psychology, linguistics and dialectology. Encouraged by the rich folk-poetic heritage and scientific research of the preceding scientists of the nineteenth century and folklorists of the twentieth century prepared the ground for a deep exploration of the fairy tales. It has become a cultural phenomenon, the object of studies and researches in various fields of knowledge (mostly humanitarian), natural sciences and exact (mathematical) sciences. The nature of the fairy tale, in its very basics, is philosophical: it is wise, effective (fairytale therapy), explains many phenomena of being in a society. According to comparativists, a fairy tale is a philosophy of a certain ethnos in verbal and non-verbal (semiotic, text) form. The article is deals with evaluation of the discourses in the Ukrainian fairylore concerning various aspects of the studying of folk tales: putting texts on paper, studying different folkloristic schools, the relationship of the storyteller’s personality with his social role, etc. Attention is drawn to the dynamics of fairylore as a separate branch of science, with a sufficiently well-developed apparatus for studying folk epics. The theoretical concepts are illustrated with practical references to sources, native and foreign scientists, and scientific centers that are authoritative in various professional discourses on the study of fairytale narrative. Conclusions have been made about the need for further comprehensive study of folk tales, production of generalizing works on Ukrainian fairylore, separate analytical monographs on history, theory and practice of this subject. The analyzed discourses around the folk tale have become a positive factor in the dynamics of Ukrainian fairytale in general.

Voices of Identities: Vocal Music and De/con/struction of Communities in the Former Habsburg Areas ed. by Daniel Ender and Christoph Flamm

Reviewed by: Voices of Identities: Vocal Music and De/con/struction of Communities in the Former Habsburg Areas ed. by Daniel Ender and Christoph Flamm Georg Burgstaller Voices of Identities: Vocal Music and De/con/struction of Communities in the Former Habsburg Areas. Edited by Daniel Ender and Christoph Flamm. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2018. [viii, 190 p. ISBN 9781527508088 (hardcover), $99.95; ISBN 9781527525870 (e-book), price varies.] Illustrations, music examples, bibliographies, maps, screenshots. This slender volume of proceedings from a 2014 conference in Klagenfurt explores the role of vocal music (ranging from traditional song to opera) in relation to the plurality of identities (from individual to supranational identity) in the territories of the former Austrian–Hungarian Empire after 1918, with a particular focus on the Balkan peninsula and relative neglect of the empire's Italian regions and farther outreaches to the east. The editors' unforced conceptualization of identity in the context of such multi-ethnic, multinational, and multicultural complexity acts as an apposite curtain-raiser: individuality is voluntarily (though not always unproblematically) ceded to become subsumed in, as George Herbert Mead put it, the "generalized other" (p. 2). How might the voice, perhaps the most individual human expression, figure in this process of converging around or diverging from the new social models formed within the identity vacuum created by the fall of empire and beyond? Ursula Hemetek's chapter on the role of traditional song and identification in the Balkans—buried towards the end of the volume—might have been an appropriate gambit to unravel the issue, but the collection is elegantly launched, nonetheless, by Gerda Lechleitner's chapter on the Vienna Phonogrammarchiv (initiated in 1899 as a matter of scholarly interest in ethnography and linguistics rather than music) and its spoken-voice recordings, with some discussion of music from Croatian Sprachinseln (language islands) and a brief gloss on how language and music might figure as markers of identity in the case of Burgenland Croats, based on recordings from the first three decades of the twentieth century. (Marko Kölbl offers a discussion emphasizing the tension between retaining and creating musical traditions within that particular ethnic minority in a later chapter.) The essays that follow create a multifarious, somewhat eclectic path through a large variety of musical genres in geographies that could be grouped together as those of today's eastern central Europe (Czech Republic and Poland), aforementioned Croatia, Serbia, and Hungary, as well as a couple of essays on music in Austria, all largely by writers hailing from the countries in question. Bohemia is discussed by way of David Vondráček's essay on the music for jazz revues at Prague's avant-garde theater Osvobozené Divadlo (Liberated Theater; 1926–38), which had become reimagined as a specifically Czech sound of resistance against both Nazism and communism. In a similar vein, Anna G. Piotrowska offers insights into the selfportrayal and stereotyping of urban minorities (in this case Romani people) in Cracow's vaudeville theater during the early twentieth century as well. Three consecutive chapters are devoted to Serbian music: Melita Milin provides an overview of identity issues affecting composers in interwar Yugoslavia, especially their oscillation between actively promoted supranational (Yugoslav) identity on the one hand and national (Serbian) identity on the other. These became musically reified by adherence to a distinct musical culture established in Serbia (1882–1918) as opposed to an embrace of more [End Page 100] progressive tendencies—especially expressionism—in Slovenia and Croatia, even if these were nowhere near akin to Viennese modernism. A historically broadly conceived excursion into the orally transmitted Serbian folk epic, illuminating its eventual nationalist potential during the twentieth century, is followed by Nadežda Mosusova's discussion of the premiere of the opera Ženidba Miloša Obilića (The Marriage of Miloš Obilić) by Serbian composer Petar Konjović (1883–1970) at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb in 1917. A pseudohistorical drama partly based on the Serbian Kosovo epic about the fourteenthcentury knight Miloš Obilić, the opera's perceived Serbian patriotism proved politically sensitive given the hostilities between Austria-Hungary and Serbia before and during World War I, as can be gleaned from its reception in the Croatian...

YAKUT EPIC HERITAGE AND ITS INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATIONS (1970s- beginning of the 21st century)

The article is a review of translations of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho into Russian and foreign languages. The review captures a large period, from Soviet times to the present. For the first time, such a study included unknown and little-known translations, as well as reviews on translations. The need to preserve and popularize the Yakut cultural heritage, represented by outstanding works of the Yakut classics, is confirmed by the history of Russia and of all mankind. The relevance of translation projects is due to the fact that in 2005 UNESCO recognized the Yakut heroic epic olonkho as a masterpiece of the oral intangible heritage of mankind, which, in turn, caused attention to olonkho in different countries. This fact inspired an interest to Yakut epic worldwide and stimulated translations of it into various languages and the research of these translations that supposed to be a tool for Northern cultural heritage preservation. The subject of the research is the EnglishThe significance of translations of the olonkho epic is determined by the features of the development of traditional communities at the present stage, their cultural heritage, which is in danger of extinction, is of particular concern. Olonkho - the ancient heroic epic of the Yakuts - is one of the brightest examples of the archaic folk epic. The olonkho formed the ideas of the Yakut people about the universe, a system of moral values, traditional beliefs and customs, the originality of language and culture. Particularly relevant is the question of the features of the translation of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho into the world languages. The uniqueness of the artistic world and the language of the epic olonkho determines the extreme complexity of its translation and significantly distinguishes it from all other kinds of literature. At the end of the twentieth century the Yakut heroic epic olonkho spoke not only in Russian, but also in other languages of the world. This paper considers translations of the Yakut epic olonkho into Russian, English, French, Korean, in particular, the full-text English translation of the olonkho Nurgun Botur the Swift by P.A. Oyunsky translations of olonkho Eles Bootur by P.V. Ogotoev and other epic texts. Translators of German, Turkish and Japanese also paid attention to various olonkho texts.

Tracing the Epic Tradition in The Fantaserye: GMA 7’s “Encantadia” As an Epic

Popular culture is an emergent study compared to other disciplines. Studies on television as more than a means of entertainment are scarce. As such, this paper is an attempt to fill that dearth by looking into the fantaserye and its relationship with the traditional conventions of the epic. Through the theories on the conventions of the epic and the function of the epic hero propounded by Damiana Eugenio and Isagani Cruz respectively, the researcher looks into the possibility that the fantaserye is inspired from the traditional epic. John Fiske and John Hartley’s notion on television as today’s bard was also utilized in this study. The method used throughout the study is Content analysis. 
 Results show that the fantaserye and the folk epics have similar attributes such as having the epic hero, their travails and adventures, and their physical and moral transformations that embody the group’s beliefs, ideals, and aspirations, although one difference is that the folk epics are either chanted orally and or performed, while the fantaserye “Encantadia” is aired through the aid of the television. And lastly, some characters were inspired from traditional Filipino folk epics and neighboring countries. 
 To conclude, the fantaserye gets its materials and inspiration not only from mythological tales, but also from the folk epics, thus making oral literature survive in another form, but at the same time deviates from these inspirations which makes it a postmodern take of the traditional epic. This proves that the popular culture as a field of study that can be associated to other similar fields such as literary studies. Also, the folk epic did not die a natural death in the oral tradition; it adapted through a medium which is relevant and accessible to all: the television.

Ukrainian Duma: Interpretation of Term and Genre Denominations

The aim of this paper is to show the Old-Iranian genesis of the term “duma” used to refer to the genre of Ukrainian folk epic. Research methodology . The research methodology applies historical and logical and comparative methods used for studying the interpretation the Ukrainian term “duma”, related to Old-Iranian and Old-Slavic worlds and used to define the genre of national epic tradition. Results. In the scientific literature, the “duma” epic is regarded as a late-stage phenomenon, without exploring its historical links to earlier autochthonous epic traditions that prevailed in the territory of Ancient Ukraine, particularly ancient Iran. The Ukrainian ethnomusicologists (S. Grytsa) argue for its artificial formation, introduced in the literary sources of the Romantic era. The article attempts to refute this common sense. It is hypothesized that the word duma , first mentioned in the written sources of Kyivan Rus, has ancient Iranian genesis. The ancient Iranian component has been studied sufficiently in the material and spiritual culture of Ukraine, but the results of this study rarely fall within the attention of musicologists and ethnomusicologists. In the culture of Ukrainians, iranisms have been preserved since the Scythian-Sarmatian until Kozachchyna era, a period of the duma genre flourishing. Since ancient times, the word duma functioned in ancient Iranian languages, including Tajik. It correlated with the dumb-, duma -root, which meant “a tail” (L.Gertsenberg), and preserved in the name of the folk epic instrument “dombra”, “dumbbrak” (literally — a tail/lamb fat-tail, by I. Vyzgo-Ivanova). The form of ancient instruments was determined by their ideological content. The sacred meaning of Aries (lamb) and individual parts of its body correlated with the idea of Farn (good, power, strength) as a symbol of royal power in ancient Iranians, including the Scythians, and was embodied in the form of a musical instrument. The Iranian-speaking Afghans still name the folk singers as dumas , and the Turkic-speaking Kazakhs, whose ancestors were Iranian-speaking Scythian-Saka tribes, until recently, used the similar word duany to name the divine seers, performers of epic cycles. The semantics of these words indicates that these were used in ancient Iranian vocabulary to refer to both carriers of epic traditions (duma) and their epic instruments ( dumbra , domra ) and repertoire. It testifies to the fact that the early Slavic tribes in the territory of Ancient Ukraine borrowed the word duma during the period of direct contacts and assimilation processes with the Iranian-speaking world, beginning with the Scythian-Sarmatian-Alan era. F. Kolessa, and subsequently S. Grytsa pointed out the connection of duma musical stylistics and music of the East, explaining “chromaticism” in thoughts by oriental influences. Based on archaeological, historical and contemporary ethnomusicological studies, it can be argued that the so-called East was located within the modern Ukrainian territory. Those cultural elements, which individual ethnomusicologists interpret in the context of “Eastern” influences, prevailed in ancient Ukrainian lands for centuries, and are still rooted in the culture of the Ukrainians. Novelty . The paper refutes the well established in the scientific literature notion of late origin of the word and term duma as the genre name of the Ukrainian epic tradition. Its ancient Iranian genesis, the connection of duma genre with the Ossetian Kadagi has been proved. The practical significance . The material in this article can be used in academic programs of university courses for cultural studies, art studies, instrumental studies and the study of the history of the Ukrainian epic tradition. A linguistic analysis of the term and genre duma makes it possible to conduct broader comparative studies on term functioning during the era of the Eurasian people, who have had long-lasting close contacts with the Scythian-Sarmato-Alan world in the past.

Writer and Olonkho-Performer: Features of “Buura Dokhsun” Olonkho’s Verse by Erilik Eristiin

This article discusses the features of “Buura Dokhsun” Olonkho’s verse, first published in 1993 by Erilik Eristiin, writer and olonkho-performer. The introduction briefly refers to the studies of the past years, which revealed common features among folk storytellers. Similar moments are clearly shown in the composition of epics. Further, in detail described a special method for studying the verse of olonkho, proposed by professor N.N. Toburokov. This method has been used for about ten years to study many texts of the epic work of the Sakha people. To familiarize in the beginning is given a brief biographical note about the author, about the work as a whole. For the first time are studied the rhythm, alliteration, rhyme of olonkho by writer and olonkho performer – Semen Stepanovich Yakovlev – Erilik Eristiin. It is revealed that in the olonkho “Buura Dokhsun” he followed the canons of the Yakut heroic epic, but in comparison with genuinely folk storytellers, the formal parameters of the Olonkho’s verse are much higher. So, in the epic “Buura Dokhsun” alliteration in the beginning of a line (from the studied 1543 lines) makes 70,7%, and inside of a line makes 26,7%. The peculiarity of the olonkho’s verse by poet-storyteller is the fact that the number of rhythmic structures that are exactly repeated in the next or corresponding other line has increased to 40%, whereas we found that in the epics of M. N. Androsova-Ionova they are 10%, and D. Govorov – 5%. The use of rhyme by Erilik Eristiin is also higher – in average 73%, and the average rate in traditional storytellers – 56%, there is also a masterful use of different forms of phonomorphological rhymes. At the end of the article the results are summarized. In general, Erilik Eristiin, maintaining the common traditional forms of the verse of the folk epic, introduced a lot of new, inspired by his own poetic experience. The writer and Olonkho-performer Erilik Eristiin has other manuscripts of Olonkho. In this respect, he is the only writer who has created so many Olonkho.

Oral traditions: An aid to implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education in the Philippines’ basic education programme

English and Filipino (Tagalog) are the official languages of the Philippines. English is taught in schools and used as a medium of instruction as early as kindergarten. Because it was originally imposed by Western colonialism, its use in academia has been criticised as discriminatory to regional and indigenous languages other than Tagalog, which are not generally used in higher education and have therefore not been allowed to develop as academic languages. In 2012, the Filipino Department of Education issued Order No. 16, series of 2012, also known as the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) order. Following its recent adoption in public schools, the MTB-MLE policy has already run into some difficulties that challenge its output. Among these is a lack of instructional materials, as most available textbooks are written in English or Filipino. This article explores the potential of oral traditions as instructional tools in basic education. There have been extensive efforts by folklorists to collect, record and publish folk epics, myths, legends and tales. An essential aspect of this research is the recording and publication of materials in the original versions or languages used by native informants from indigenous communities. For the past ten years, the author has conducted field research with indigenous communities in the southern regions of Mindanao. This has yielded a collection of folk literature recorded in the languages of the indigenous communities studied. This collection has been translated into Bisaya, one of the major regional languages of the Philippines, and into English. These texts have considerable potential as classroom learning materials. The publication of these indigenous literature texts makes knowledge of indigenous language and culture available to basic education learners, as well as to the general public. The publication of mother tongue reading materials will also help promote knowledge of, appreciation for, and proficiency in the use of these languages.

The Hungarian táltos and the shamanism of pagan Hungarians. Questions and hypotheses

One of the purposes of this study is to outline the research problem related to the wizard called táltos and a hypothesized shamanism in the pagan, pre-Christian religion of the Hungarians. Another purpose is to present the results of new research on this issue. The first part of the study is the analysis of the activities of a weather wizard called táltos from the 16th to the 21st century, as well as its related beliefs and narrative motifs. Then I present the process in the course of which researchers of the pre-Christian pagan “ancient religion” – Gyula Sebestyén, Géza Róheim, Sándor Solymossy, Vilmos Diószegi and others – created the fictitious construct of the táltos and reconstructed the Conquest-era shaman in line with the model compiled from the attributes of shamanism of various periods and various peoples. The criticism of Vilmos Diószegi’s construct of the táltos is followed by the introduction of new research results. Their main points: modern táltos beliefs and narratives show many correlations with Balkan – especially Bulgarian – folk beliefs and folk epics. The táltos and táltos-epics show the closest correlation with the beliefs of Bulgarian dragon-men who were fathered by a dragon or eagle and born with wings or other animal traits, as well as with the adventures of heroes of epic songs who slay the dragons of the underworld and are protected by the spirit of the eagle, dragon, rooster, crane, etc. We also need to consider the infl uences of Slavic storm wizard practices and the werewolf beliefs and narratives of the Balkans. The infl uences of Balkan peoples on Hungarian culture are indubitable, partly the result of the Bulgaro-Turkic relations between the 5th and 9th centuries and partly the consequences of Slavic relations after the Conquest. It is likely that at the time of the Hungarian Conquest, there was a weather magic practice similar to those of the Balkan dragon-men, as well as a weather wizard called táltos. However, the construct of the research tradition represented by Diószegi must be refuted: there is no evidence of a shaman-táltos similar to the “classic” Eurasian shaman who was initiated in the world tree and established contact with the spirit world through a ritual performance, in a drum-induced ecstasy.

Abū Zayd al-Hilālī: Trickster, Womanizer, Warrior, Shaykh

Abstract Sīrat Banī Hilāl (the Epic of the Banī Hilāl) is rooted in the 10th-century invasion of North Africa by the Banī Hilāl Bedouin tribe after they left their homeland of the Najd in the Arabian Peninsula. Told in a combination of poetry and prose similar to the style of other epic tales such as that of ‘Antar, Sayf ibn Dhī Yazin, and Dhāt al-Himmah, Sīrat Banī Hilāl is nevertheless unique in that it is the only one of the folk epics traditionally to be performed in sung verse to the accompaniment of musical instruments (rather than spoken or read aloud). It is also distinctive for being a tale that recounts the elaborate interactions among a constellation of main figures rather than being primarily about the exploits of a single hero. Among these central characters, however, one in particular deserves notice for his psychological complexity—Abū Zayd al-Hilālī, the black hero of the Banī Hilāl tribe. Abū Zayd, it is argued here, combines many of the features of the ‘classic hero’ as delineated by Otto Rank, Lord Raglan, and Joseph Campbell, as well as characteristics of the Trickster figures studied by Carl Jung, Paul Radin, M.C. Lyons, and others. He is at times the chivalrous hero, a model of manly virtues, but also capable of cunning and deceptive behavior that borders on the dishonorable, and in a few infamous scenes he kills innocent people and tells outright lies to cover his tracks, leaving modern audiences baffled and conflicted. At the same time, however, for reasons spelled out in this essay, Abū Zayd is the character with whom modern Egyptian audiences most clearly identify: a black hero denigrated for his skin color, capable of great deeds of heroism, chivalry, and religious devotion, as well as acts of an intensely transgressive nature.

Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World.

Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit have already proved themselves one of the most creative and complementary marital partnerships in the business of interpreting Asia. While they eschew partitioning responsibility, suffice it to say that together they offer both an elegant Cambridge style of historical analysis and great empathy for the Thai sources and context. Following their innovative and successful A History of Thailand (2005), Baker and Pasuk have recently turned their attention to elegant English editions of some crucial Ayutthaya texts. The scholarly effort of rendering into poetic English two colorful epic poems, Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen: Siam’s Great Folk Epic of Love and War (2010), and Yuan Phai, Defeat of Lanna: A Fifteenth-Century Thai Epic Poem (2016), was accompanied by a study and translation of The Palace Law of Ayutthaya and the Thammasat: Law and Kingship in Siam (2016). These works provide a cultural depth lacking in earlier surveys, and are drawn on liberally throughout Baker and Pasuk’s A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World. The Palace Law, for example, provides a vivid picture of the military style of court culture that the authors see as characteristic of the sixteenth century in Siam (105–111).

Protection and Power in Siam: From Khun Chang Khun Phaen to the Buddha Amulet

Today in Thailand wearing of an amulet (phra khrueang), a small image of Buddha or of a famous monk usually enclosed in some form of casing and attached to a cord or chain worn around neck, is among most widespread of religious practices.1) The principal benefit of such amulets is protection from dangers of various kinds, verging into a more positive desire for good fortune. In Khun Chang Khun Phaen (KCKP), a massive folk epic dating back to late Ayutthaya era, demand for protection against dangers is a dominant theme, and many devices are used for this purpose.In study of religion, power, and social ordering in Thai society, key concepts have been merit and power, prowess, patron-client ties, kingship, and so on.2) All these concepts betray a top-down view, a focus on explaining why certain people are powerful. The concept of protection comes into play when angle of vision switches to bottomup and concentrates on what people seek from religion, power, and social institutions. In historical study, nature of few sources available (chronicles, laws) has favored top-down view. However, literary sources that emerged from a popular tradition offer possibility of moving outside this straitjacket. Similarly, in contemporary study, concept of protection or security has emerged with increasing attention to analysis of popular religious practice. In his recent pathbreaking work, Justin McDaniel argues that besides well-known Buddhist qualities of non-attachment, compassion, and enlightenment, everyday practice points to the importance of security and protection (khwam plotphai, kan pongkan), abundance . . . , graciousness . . . , and heritage (McDaniel 2011, 219).In this article, we trace concept of protection from late Ayutthaya era to present. The early sections analyze meaning and prominence of protection in KCKP, and range of devices and practices deployed in its pursuit. The later sections trace emergence of modern amulet and changing role of Buddha in business of protection.Khun Chang Khun Phaen as a SourceKCKP is a long folk epic that developed in an oral tradition of storytelling for local audiences. The plot, set in provincial urban society of central Siam, is a love triangle ending in tragedy. Khun Phaen is handsome and dashing but his family was ruined after his father was executed by king for an error on royal service. Khun Chang is richest man in local town but fat, ugly, and crass. The two compete for lovely Wanthong. Khun Phaen woos and weds her, but Khun Chang then uses his wealth and court connections to take her away. The rivalry continues through two pitched battles, two court cases, trial by ordeal, jail, treachery, abduction, and other mayhem. Tiring of this disorder, king summons three and commands that Wanthong be executed for failing to choose between two men.Probably tale originated around 1600 and developed in an oral tradition of storytelling for local audiences, becoming hugely popular by eighteenth century, and very long (21,000 lines excluding late sequels). It was then adopted by court, converted to written form, extended with new episodes and sequels, and embellished with fancier poetry. The first printed edition appeared in 1872, but work is known today through an edition published in 1916-17 by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, half-brother of King Chulalongkorn.3)Works like KCKP that develop through repeated interaction between performers and audiences over a long period, as did many of classics of world literature, come to reflect tastes and values of their society. While court revisions greatly changed surface of KCKP, plot, tone, structure, and rhythm of work retained much of their original character. The epic is a rare document that reflects society and mindset of premodern Siam.Protection in Khun Chang Khun PhaenThroughout tale, characters seek protection (khum-khrong, pong-kan) against risks, dangers, and threats (siang, phai, antarai, khuk-kham) in order to ward off sorrowful hardship (thuk) and achieve peaceful contentment (suk). …

A review of the literature on decasyllable folk epics

A review of the literature on decasyllable folk epics

Sun-Gods and Soviets: Historicising a North Caucasian Nart Saga

This paper examines the potential historical value of the Nart Sagas, a cycle of North Caucasian folk epics. It discusses the methodological problems in dating them, and especially in treating them as a corpus of entirely ancient date. In response, the author proposes the use of a ‘rhizomatic’ approach: treating the surviving sagas as unique, ‘frozen’ performances, which concentrate a number of strands, some of which may lead into other extant parallel texts. To test this theory, it is applied to a single saga, the tale of the hero Shoshlan’s journey to the underworld, and this saga’s apparent parallels with Sarmatian art and with early mediaeval Christian Apocalypse Literature. The paper concludes with a summary of how this method can be more widely applied, through the use of thematic analogy.