Subakozhoeva Ch. T.

The History of Collecting and Writing down the Manas Epos. P. 131- 137.

UDC 821.512.154-131(091)

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2020.69.4.013

 

The epic genre plays a significant role in Kyrgyz folklore. The Manas epos is prominent among the numerous tales, songs, and smaller epic works of Kyrgyz folklore. The Manas epos is popular both in the Kyrgyz Republic and in China where people of Kyrgyz ethnicity live. The work of collecting and writing down the Manas epos is a great challenge, for the epic is exceptionally long and versatile. The best Russian scholars of the late 19th — early 20th century, leading Soviet and Chinese researchers of Kyrgyz folklore united their efforts to collect and write down the Manas epos.

The aim of the article is to analyze the history of collecting and writing down the Manas epos in Kyrgyzstan and in China. The process of collecting and writing down the epic work started in the pre-revolutionary period by Ch. Vaikhanov and V. Radlov. The work was continued by K. Miftakhov and I. Abdyrakhmanov in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Manas epos is popular in China, where there are many epic storytellers who recite their own variants of the epic. Chinese scholars work to collect and write down various variants of the epic.

The most famous epic poetry collectors are Balbay Mamay, Lu Fajun, Hu Jen-hwa, Saken Omur, Lu Chienwu and others. The researchers have managed to write down more than twenty different variants of the epic. They have undoubtedly done great work in the sphere of collecting and writing down the Manas epos in Kyrgyzstan and in China.

 

Kyrgyz folklore; epic; Manas epos; Mans storytellers; storytellers; collecting epos; writing down epos

 

 

References:

 

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