On the issue of studying the “genetic basis” of Khoshut songs

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Abstract

This article continues the research and introduction of Kalmyk folk songs into scholarly circulation. For the first time, the article examines the songs of the Khoshuts of Kalmykiain comparison with the early recordings of Kalmyk songs of the 18th to 19th centuries. The author, referring to the early texts, looks deep into history and finds out the origin, content, compositional structure and genre specifics of the Khoshut songs. Descriptive, comparative-typological and comparative-comparative methods were used in the work, as well as synoptic analysis of texts, which allows to identify common and local features of Khoshut songs. The material for the study was the corpus of texts of Khoshut songs published by B.V. Menyaev in the monograph “Historical and cultural heritage of the Khoshuts of Kalmykia: research and materials” (2023). Handwritten collections of Kalmyk songs stored in archives and libraries of St. Petersburg were used as additional materials for comparing texts. Religious, historical, ethnographic and lexicographical literature, as well as personal materials of the author collected in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, were also involved. During the study, it was found that the Khoshut songs recorded in the 20th–21st centuries present abbreviated versions of ancient Kalmyk songs. Knowledge of the early lyrics allowed the author to identify the “genetic basis” of the Khoshut songs and understand their content, compositional structure and genre specifics. The obtained results of this article will be used by the author in the study of Kalmyk songs in their diachronic section.

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About the authors

Boskha K. Borlykova

Kalmyk State University named after B.B. Gorodovikov

Author for correspondence.
Email: borlboskha@mail.ru

Cand. Sci. (Philol.), Senior Researcher

Russian Federation, 11 Pushkin Str., Elista, 358000

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