Article

Name: Song inclusions in the fairy-tale folklore of Forest Yukaghirs

Authors: Praskovya E. Prokopeva

Institute for Humanities Research and North Indigenous People Problems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the song inclusions in the tales of Forest Yukaghirs, the content of such pieces, their purposes, and origin. Song segments are found in animal tales, including mythological ones, fairy tales about a Fabulous Old Man-eater, and everyday fairy tales. The song inclusions mostly convey the monological speech of the characters and include lexical repetitions. The song inclusions considered are mainly the magical appeal of one hero to another, a personal story, or a real personal situation. Some of them can be characterized as personal songs. Characters endowed with supernatural powers use the song as a magical ritual. These characters include heroes with shamanic powers and the ogre giant, the Fabulous Old Man. The magical potential of the song, aimed at summoning and embodying something, can also be evoked by ordinary people, even unintentionally. Songs-appeals of some characters to others are performed in magical situations, facilitating their manifestation. The fairy tales provide indirect indications of the shamanic power of the singing characters. Alternatively, the songs addressed to other persons can be performed by ordinary characters, usually represented by animals. Songs as personal narratives or real personal situations can be found mainly in the tales about animals. The song inclusions are based on the representations of shamanic activity, magical abilities, and the song type of storytelling, as evidenced by the existence of both non-fairy and fairy tale Yukaghir prose.

Keywords: Yukaghir folklore, Forest Yukaghirs, fairy-tale folklore, song inclusions

Bibliography:

Demina L. N. Literaturney chunulek: khrestomatiya [Literary reading: textbook]. Yakutsk, Bichik, 2015, 88 p.

Fol’klor yukagirov [Folklore of the Yukaghirs]. G. N. Kurilov (Comp.). Moskow, Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2005, 594 p.

Fol’klor yukagirov Verkhney Kolymy [The folklore of the Upper Kolyma Yukaghirs]. L. N. Zhukova, I. A. Nikolaeva, L. N. Demina (Comps). Yakutsk, YSU Publ., 1989, pt. 1, 161 p.; 1989, pt. 2, 89 p.

Ignat’eva T. I. Muzykal’nyy fol’klor yukagirov [Musical folklore of the Yukaghirs]. In: Fol’klor yukagirov [Folklore of Yukaghirs]. Moscow, Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2005, рp. 45–123. (Pamyatniki fol’klora narodov Sibiri i Dal’nego Vostoka [Monuments of folklore of the peoples of siberia and the far east]. vol. 25)

Iokhel’son V. I. Materialy po izucheniyu yukagirskogo yazyka i fol’klora, sobrannye v Kolymskom okruge [The materials for Yukaghir language and folklore study collected in the Kolymsky district]. Yakutsk, Bichik, 2005a, 272 p.

Iokhel’son V. I. Yukagiry i yukagirizirovannye tungusy [The Yukaghir and the Yukaghirized Tungus]. V. Kh. Ivanov, Z. I. Ivanova-Unarova (Transl. from English). Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2005b, 675 p.

Lunnoe litso: Skazki yukagirov [Moon Face: Tales of the Yukaghirs]. L. N. Zhukova, O. S. Chernecov (Comps). Yakutsk, Kn. Izd., 1992, 128 p.

Meletinskiy E. M. Paleoaziatskiy mifologicheskiy epos. Tsikl Vorona [Paleoasiatic mythological epic. The Raven Cycle]. Moscow, 1979, 230 p.

Prokop’eva P. E. Obraz Rosomakhi v fol’lore lesnykh yukagirov [Image of Wolverine in Folklore of the Forest Yukaghir]. Philological Sciences. Issues of Theory and Practice. 2021, vol. 14, iss. 3, pp. 647–652.

Prokop’eva P. E. Otrazhenie mifologicheskogo myshleniya v yukagirskom folklore [Reflection of mythological thinking in Yukaghir folklore]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, SB RAS Publ. House, 2009, 143 p.

Prokop’eva P. E. Ustnaya neskazochnaya traditsiya yukagirov [The oral untold tradition of the Yukaghirs]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, SB RAS Publ. House, 2018, 308 p.

Prokop’eva P. E. O dvukh tsiklakh v fol’klore lesnykh yukagirov (vopros o sokhrannosti i transformatsii syuzhetov) [Аbout two cycles in the folklore of forest Yukaghirs (the question of the preservation and transformation of plots)]. Siberian Journal of Philology. 2011, no. 3, pp. 14–23.

Propp V. Yа. Istoricheskie korni volshebnoy skazki [The historical roots of the fairy tale]. Moscow, Labirint, 2000, 336 p.

Sadalova T. M. Skazki v sisteme zhanrov altayskogo fol’klora [Fairy tales in the system of genres of Altai folklore]. The world of science, culture and education. 2009, no. 1 (13), рp. 50–53

Spiridonov V. K., Nikolaeva I. A. Bukvar’ dlya 1 klassa yukagirskikh shkol (verkhnekolymskiy dialekt) [Primer for the 1st grade of Yukaghir schools (Verkhnekolymsky dialect)]. St. Petersburg, Prosveshchenie, 1993, 127 p.

Zhukova L. N. Drevnekitayskiy i yukagirskiy mify o sotvorenii cheloveka: syuzhetnoe i strukturnoe skhodstvo [The ancient Chinese and the Yukagir myth of the creation of man: plot and structural similarities]. Severo-Vostochnyy gumanitarnyy vestnik. 2017, no. 2 (19), рp. 28–39.

Zhukova L. N. Ocherki po yukagirskoy kul’ture: v 3 ch. [Essays on Yukaghir culture: in 3 vols.]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2012, pt. 2: Mifologicheskaya model’ mira [Mythological model of the world], 360 p.

Zhukova L. N. Yukagirsko-kitayskie fol’klornye paralleli [The Yukagir-Chinese folklore parallels]. Philological Sciences. Issues of Theory and Practice. 2015, no. 7-2 (49), рр. 72–76.

Zhukova L. N., Prokop’eva P. E. Fol’klornye teksty yukagirov Verkhney Kolymy [Folklore texts of the Yukaghirs of the Upper Kolyma]. In: Yazyk – mif – kul’tura narodov Sibiri [Language-myth-culture of the peoples of Siberia]. Yakutsk, 1991,iss. 2, pp. 146–167.