Modern scenarios of Yakut epic performance and some of their sources

Abstract

The heroic epic represents a vibrant genre of Yakut folklore. Alongside the Sakha language, traditional ritual practices and other indigenous phenomena it has become a key object of the current regional cultural policy in Yakutia. This article is devoted to contemporary practices of performing the epic in the field of its historical emergence. The question of the role of the Soviet experience of cultural construction in the practices of presenting the folklore tradition of the peoples of Yakutia still remains studied insufficiently. As a preliminary formulation of this problem, this article reviews the most obvious ‘traces’ of these traditions in modern formats of performance of the Yakut epic. They are found at virtually all levels of public performance of the epic, from the performer’s clothing and the textual material he or she chooses, to the scripts and the accepted «rules» of performing/listening to the epic. Particular attention is paid to the initial phase of the formation of official Yakut Soviet culture, during which the genre of ‘folk’ performances was established. It is evident that the contemporary scenarios of listening to and performing the epic largely inherit Soviet practices. Conversely, the current period of ‘revitalisation’ of traditional culture is conceptualized as a new and even opposing phase in the assessments of the tradition bearers and folklore performers themselves.