Oriental Studies (Jul 2021)
Kalmyk Literary Fable, 20th Century: Zoopoetics of Text
Abstract
Introduction. In the genre system of Kalmyk poetry, the literary fable appeared in the 1930s. When it came to master the genre, Kalmyk poets mainly focused on the traditions of Russian fable of the 19th–20th centuries, primarily on I. A. Krylov’s works which they eagerly translated. The Kalmyk authors were the least likely to rely on traditions of Eastern literature — whether Indian, Tibetan, or Oirat Mongolian — since those sources written in Tibetan, Classical Mongolian and Clear Script (Kalm. todo bichiq) were virtually unavailable to them, and not all poets had knowledge of the scripts. National folklore, including myths, animal tales, household tales, aphoristic poetry (proverbs, sayings, riddles), to a certain extent contributed to the creation of plots and motifs, a gallery of images ― people and the animal world ― in the Kalmyk literary fable. The appeal to the fable was determined by the tasks of cultural construction in Kalmykia, the satirical possibilities of the genre designed to scourge social vices and human shortcomings, contribute to the correction of morals, facilitate education of a person in the new society. Attention to the fable in 20th-century Kalmyk poetry was not that universal and constant, by the end of the century it was no longer in demand and never revived further. The Kalmyk literary fable has been little studied so far, with the exception of several recent articles by R. M. Khaninova, which determines the relevance of this study. Goals. The article aims to study zoopoetics of text of the animalistic fable in Kalmyk poetry of the past century through examples of selected works by Khasyr Syan-Belgin, Muutl Erdniev, Garya Shalburov, Basang Dordzhiev, Timofey Bembeev, and Mikhail Khoninov. Methods. The work employs a number of research methods, such as the historical literary, comparative, and descriptive ones. Results. The animalistic fable is not the leading one in the general genre system of Kalmyk poetry of the past century, including among fables with human characters. It usually includes characters of the steppe fauna whose figurative characteristics are manifested in Kalmyk folklore. The social satire and political orientation of the fables are actualized by modern reality, actual international situation and events. The paper reveals a relationship between the animal fable and — Kalmyk folklore and the Russian fable tradition. Most of the fables have not yet been translated into Russian. Conclusions. In terms of national versification patterns, the study of the Kalmyk poetic animal fable has identified such synthetic forms as fable-fairy tale, fable-proverb, and fable-dream. The genre definition is not always specified by the authors, a moral usually concludes each quatrain-structured narrative. Genre scenes, monologues, and dialogues contribute to an in-depth reading of the context, symbolism of images, and semantic code.
Keywords
