Article

Name: Ethnic self-identification of Altay-kizhi in the context of oral historical legends

Authors: E. V. Koroleva

Independent noncommercial organization Scientific and methodical center «Siberia», Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Повествовательный фольклор

Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of ethno-marking and integration plots of Altai historical legends. The author characterizes the historical circumstances of the formation of the corpus of Altai historical legends, attempts to systema- tize the stories on the content and highlights the signs of ethnic identity for Altai-kizhi on the basis of folklore texts: language, lifestyle, type of management, clothing, hairstyle. A debatable question about ethnic borders of Altai-kizhi and relations with local sub-ethnic groups is presented. The author insists on the incompleteness of the integrative pro- cesses taking place in the territory of the Altai Mountains in the post-Oirot period, which currently lead to the inclusion of various small ethnic and sub-ethnic turkic-speaking groups in the Altay-kizhi people. The importance of knowledge of specific folklore subjects, and not only the Altai language for ethnic idetification is emphasized. Historical legends are presented as a marker of ethnic boundaries in a multi-ethnic population. The mechanisms of formation of traditional ethical prohibitions and their significance for the definition of their "own" and "others" are described. The stages of integration of migrants into the structure of exogamous genera of Altay-kizhi are described in detail on the example of the texts of legends. The author illustrates the process of population recovery through incorporation and natural growth and describes the cultural attitudes that allow to preserve ethnic identity after depopulation and civil war. Question of bilingual existence of Altai folklore texts is considered. The relevance of historical legends in the modern community is noted. Thus, folklore texts could be considered not only as examples of folk literature, but also as a source of ethnic history.

Keywords: Altai, Altai folk, Altaian historical legends, oral history, ethnic history, Oirot Kaganate, civil war, ethnic identification, incorporation of foreigners, reconstruction of the system of exogamous genera

Bibliography:

Altayskie istoricheskie predaniya Oirotskoy epokhi: XVII–XIX vv. [The historical legends of Altai folk of Oirot state period]. Editor-in-chief and compiler B. Ya. Bedyurov; translated by E. V. Koroleva. Novosibirsk, Geo Publ. House, 2014, 205 p. (in Russ.).

Anokhin A. V. Materialy po shamanstvu u altaytsev sobrannye vo vremya puteshestviy po Altayu v 1910–1912 gg. po porucheniyu Russkogo Komiteta dlya izucheniya Sredney i Vostochnoy Azii [Findings on shamanism from the Altai folk collected during the Altai travels in 1910-1912 on behalf of the Russian Committee for the study of Central and Eastern Asia]. In: Sbornik Muzeya antropologii i etnografii pri Rossiyskoy Akademii Nauk [Collection of the Museum of anthropology and Ethnography at the Russian Academy of Sciences]. Leningrad, 1924, vol. VI. (in Russ.).

Bedyurov B. Altay-Khangay – vechnaya Rodina. [Altay-Khangay – eternal Homeland]. Avtor-sostavitel', gl. Redaktor: B. Ya. Bedyurov. Perevod s altayskogo yazyka, glossariy, ukazatel' altayskikh toponimov: B. Ya. Bedyurov, E. V. Koroleva. Translated by E. V. Koroleva. Zaklyuchitel'naya stat'ya: L. I. Sherstova. Moscow, Veche Publ. House, 2017, 432 р. (in Russ.).

Diamond J. Mir pozavchera. Chemu nas mogut nauchit' lyudi, do sikh por zhivushchie v kamennom veke [The world until Yesterday]. Translated by A. Aleksandrova. Moscow, AST Publ. House, 2016, 672 p. (in Russ.).

Koroleva E. V. Etnicheskaya samoidentifikatsiya Oymonskikh starozhilov po materialam avtobiograficheskikh vospominaniy U.M. Argokovoy i S.I. Solonkinoy [Ethnic identity of the Oimon old residents in the content of autobiographical memories of U.M. Argokova and S.I. Solonkina]. In: Aktual'nye problemy istoricheskikh issledovaniy: vzglyad molodykh uchenykh [Actual problems of historical research: the view of young scientists]. Novosibirsk, 2012, pp. 318–326. (in Russ.).

Koroleva E. V. Altayskie istoricheskie legendy i predaniya na rubezhe XX–XXI vekov: sreda bytovaniya i spetsifika vosproizvodstva fol'klornykh tekstov [Altai historical legends and stories at the turn of XX–XXI centuries: the environment of existence and the specifics of the reproduction of folklore texts]. Yazyki i fol'klor korennykh narodov Sibiri [Languages and folklore of indigenous peoples of Siberia]. 2015, no. 1 (28), pp. 34–40. (in Russ.).

Koroleva E. V. «Zony umolchaniya» altayskikh istoricheskikh predaniy: genezis i evolyutsiya vo vremeni [Zones of silence in the Altai historical legends: genesis and evolution in time]. Yazyki i fol'klor korennykh narodov Sibiri [Languages and folklore of indigenous peoples of Siberia]. 2018, no. 1 (35), рр. 58–65. (in Russ.).

Neskazochnaya proza altaytsev [Altai folk legends]. Compilers N. R. Oynotkinova, I. B. Shinzhin, K. V. Yadanova, E. E. Yamaeva. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ. House, 2011. 576 p.; ill. + CD-disk. Pamyatniki fol'klora narodov Sibiri i dal'nego Vostoka [Monuments of Folklore of Peoples of Siberia and the Russian Far East], vol. 30. (in Russ.).

Ozogy Tuukiler. In: Altayskie legendy i predaniya oyrotskoy i tsarskoy epokh [The Altai folk legends and stories of Oirot state period]. Gorno-Altaysk, Altan-Tuu Publ. House, 2011, 424 p. (in Altaian).

Chemchieva A. P. Subetnicheskie gruppy altaytsev: protivorechiya i simvoly etnicheskoy identichnosti [Sub-ethnic groups of Altai folk: contradictions and symbols of ethnic identity]. Novye issledovaniya Tuvy [The new research of Tuva]. 2017, no. 1, pp. 135–150. (in Russ.).

Sherstova L. I. Novye identichnosti v Yuzhnoy Sibiri [New identities in southern Siberia]. Dnevnik Altayskoy Shkoly Politicheskikh Issledovaniy [The Diary of the Altai school of political studies]. 2005, no. 21. URL: http://ashpi.asu.ru/studies/2005/shrstva.html (in Russ.).

Shnirel'man V. A. Izlechima li bolezn' etnotsentrizma? Iz opyta izucheniya konstruirovaniya opyta proshlogo – otvet moim kritikam [Is the disease of ethnocentrism curable? From experience of studying design experience of the past – answer to my critics]. Politicheskaya kontseptologiya [Political conceptology]. 2013, no. 1, pp. 10–113. URL: http://politconcept.sfedu.ru/2013.1/08.pdf (in Russ.).