Moksha song folklore of the Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Republic of Khakassia (on the relationship between autochthonous and migratory folklore traditions)

Abstract

This paper presents the Mokshan song folklore of Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Republic of Khakassia in terms of autochthonous regional traditions. The analysis of the archive materials, oral data recorded in 2009 and 2012, allowed identifying the places of origin of Siberian migrants: villages of the Yelnikovsky, Krasnoslobodsky, Kovylkinsky, and Zubovo-Polyansky districts of the Republic of Mordovia. Also, the ethnic-local composition of the studied area was determined. Siberia and the Volga region variations of the folklore texts were compared on the thematic and (partially) musical-stylistic levels by studying modern field materials and published autochthonous sources. The materials were organized by genre: carols, round-dance songs, lyrical songs, author songs, fairy-tale prose with insert songs. A comparative analysis of materials from Siberia and the Volga region has shown the similarity between autochthonous and migratory traditions in various genres. For example, the autochthonous Zubovo-Polyansky District and migratory Siberian traditions are united by their genre of carols, as well as late folklore traditions; the original Kovylkinsky District tradition and the migratory tradition have similar round-dance songs. The polylocality of the migratory Siberian community is reflected in their song tradition, with round-dance and lyrical songs playing an important role. These songs are also popular in the Republic of Mordovia in various Moksha Mordvin groups. The Siberian variations of some Moksha lyrics compared to the autochthonous variations have been found to be represented by specific elements of plot composition with strong exposition, indicating a decline in migratory traditions and processes typical for all oral song cultures.