The problems of cultural interaction in the narrative and musical folklore of the Evenks and Yakuts (based on the materials of the 2014 expedition)

In the context of globalization, the problem of preserving the disappearing forms of traditional culture of the peoples of the Arctic is acute. The Olenyok Evenki National District of Yakutia is a zone of intensive interethnic interaction, where historical bans on the use of the Evenki language in the early 20th century led to total linguistic assimilation. This resulted in the loss of the verbal component of song genres and the disappearance of ritual forms. The aim of the study is to identify the specifics and mechanisms of interaction between Evenki and Yakut cultures in the modern narrative and musical folklore of the Olenyok Evenks. Objectives include comprehensive recording of field material; analysis of the transformation of genre systems (using the example of the chabyrǧakh ‘tongue-twister’ and women’s songs); systematization of phonetic instruments; assessment of the degree of preservation of archaic motifs under conditions of a change in the linguistic code. The study is based on materials from a comprehensive expedition conducted on November 20–27, 2014, in the village of Olenyok and the settlement of Kharyialakh. The study employed in-depth interviews conducted with 25 informants, along with audio and video recordings of 29 song samples, etymological analysis using the dictionaries of E.K. Pekarsky and A.N. Myreeva, and classification of phono-instruments from the collections of the Olenyok Historical and Ethnographic Museum, using the Hornbostel-Sachs system and the regional-historical typology of Yu.I. Sheykin. The results revealed that, after the loss of the language, the song tradition became the main means of transmitting meanings and communicating with the world of the ancestors. The study is the first to introduce information about yllammat yryalar ‘forbidden songs’ and tüül yryata ‘songs performed in dreams’ into scientific circulation. The multifunctionality of phonoinstruments, which perform protective, signaling, and playing functions, has been established. The study concludes that musical folklore took on the role of an ethnic identifier after the loss of the language. The significance of the work is determined by the need for urgent digital documentation of the disappearing culture. The prospects are linked to the creation of a unified digital database of musical folklore and the development of methods for teaching traditional vocal techniques in educational institutions in the region.

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