The Song of How the Name Jangar was Discovered: Plot Building in an Epic Narrative Recorded from Oirat Jangarchi Narsa

Abstract

Introduction. Preservation of Kalmyk and Oirat oral heritage is a primary task of contemporary folklore studies. Scholars affiliated to Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS) have tackled a project for further research into the Jangar epic (‘The Xinjiang Oirat Version of the Jangar Epic: Taletelling Tradition, Plot Structure, and Motifs’), and in 2023 the former have recorded The Song of How the Name Jangar was Discovered from Oirat jangarchi Narsa, a native of Alashan League (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China). Goals. The article attempts an insight into the plot structure of the mentioned epic Song, and introduces the latter into scientific circulation. Materials. The study focuses on the text of the Song recorded by the author and transcribed herein, with due account of related texts contained in the Xinjiang Oirat and Kalmyk versions of Jangar. Results. Our analysis of the Song’s plot structure shows the plot is interconnected with that of The Song of How Khan Uzeng Aldar Got Married once recited by the famous Hoboksar jangarchi Javin Juna, and describes some events that follow the invasion of the antagonist Khan Shara Mangas into the mentioned ruler’s lands. The plot of name giving plays an important role in the hero’s epic biography. Biographical cyclization arises from the listener’s interest in the protagonist’s life at large, and implies the most important stages of epic biography — birth, childhood, first feat, heroic deeds (up to heroic descendants who would grow to nobly defend Bumba) — be consistently developed. The miraculously born hero named Jangar matures to assert his heroic name with heroic deeds.

Keywords

• epic of jangar
• xinjiang oirat tradition
• epic repertoire
• jangarchi
• plot
• miraculously born hero
• name giving