Oriental Studies (Jun 2018)
Fairy Tale Plots in G. J. Ramstedt’s Records
Abstract
The article describes the set of plots of Kalmyk fairy tales recorded by the Finnish scholar G. J. Ramstedt in the early 20th century. The phonetically transcribed and published by G. J. Ramstedt, Kalmyk fairy tales reflect the oral tradition of the Kalmyks. The 22 recorded fairy tales are as follows: one is about animals, 12 magic fairy tales, 3 heroic tales and 6 household ones. The comparative study of fairy-tale plots as recorded by G. J. Ramstedt made it possible to identify plots that have both international and local existence. Magic fairy tales with international plots have their own peculiarities in the Kalmyk fairy-tale tradition. So, some fairy tales with the same plot type develop along two different directions. Only one fairy tale about animals published by G. J. Ramstedt has local existence — there is no corresponding position on the Comparative Directory of Plots.Some fairy tales of local existence date back to the handwritten texts of Kalmyk literature. In the oral tradition of the Kalmyks, separate fairy tales are based on plots from the literary monument of Sidditukur (‘The Magic Corpse’), e. g., The Pig-Headed Medicine-Man. The fairy tale with the plot from the above mentioned collection was published by G. J. Ramstedt. It is noteworthy that the narrator gave a traditional description — in terms of Kalmyk folklore — of Shulma (‘witch’) and Mangas (‘demonic creature’). The folklore plot about the pig-headed medicine-man as recorded by the scholar differs from all the other variants available in the fairytale tradition of the Kalmyks due to the episode of the old medicine-man’s participation in a war.Another plot widely spread in the Kalmyk fairy-tale tradition and missing in the Comparative Directory of Plots — was also recorded by G. J. Ramstedt. This plot stems from the literary monument The History of Uneker Torliktu Khan, i. e. the genre of Buddhist avadanas. The book plots were perceived according to the aesthetics of folk tales: unclear motifs, images and realities were reinterpreted or replaced, stereotyped artistic structures — traditional formulas, common places, small genres of Kalmyk folklore — were included in the composition of the fairy tale.
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