THE ORAL TRADITION OF THE BURYATS OF CHINA BASED (ON EXPEDITION MATERIALS)

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis of the specifics of the modern existence of the oral tradition of the Sheneheng Buryats – one of the ethnic groups of Buryats living compactly in Inner Mongolia of China (ARVM of the PRC). The purpose of this study is to show the genre originality of the folklore tradition of the Shanahan Buryats, to determine the forms of existence of specific genres, to identify their evolution and transformation. The study uses a comparative historical method that helps to identify common features in the understanding and comprehension of folklore plots, as well as a method of cultural and historical reconstruction, which allows to identify features of the existence of folklore genres of the Shanahan Buryats. Based on the analysis of folklore material recorded among the Sheneheng people in 2002, 2008, 2012, 2018, individual folklore motifs, plots of Chinese Buryats in the conditions of their accommodation to a new living environment are traced. The results of field research conducted in this region show that not all genres of their oral and poetic creativity actively continue to exist. In general, it is concluded that a comparative study of folklore texts of the Sheneheng Buryats of China and the Buryats of Mongolia has largely revealed the common roots of folklore of related Mongolian peoples, the specifics of their existence in the modern era. Despite the fact that some folklore texts of the Buryats are influenced by modern transformation processes that accentuate the motives of this time, nevertheless, the emergence of new folklore texts, sayings, evaluative maxims and generalizations is almost always characterized by a rethinking of the internal content of traditional folklore texts. The prospect of further research is considered to be a comprehensive study of the oral folklore tradition of the Buryats of Inner Mongolia of China, Mongolia, Russia in order to comparatively study the specifics of the existence of Buryat folklore in the context of the common Mongolian and Turkic-Mongolian traditions.