Ballads in 20th-Century Kalmyk Poetry: A Perspective from Genre Synthesis

Introduction. The ballad genre in Kalmyk poetry, having no national folklore analogues, is based on the Russian literary ballad of the Soviet period. The article examines ballads in 20th-century Kalmyk poetry in the aspect of genre synthesis — the ballad and the poem proper. The relevance of the work is determined by that the Kalmyk literary ballad remains understudied both in the genre paradigm and in the dialogue of cultures. Goals. The article aims to examine the Kalmyk literary ballad in its synthesis with the genre of the poem. Materials and Methods. The investigated materials are works by  N. Tamarchenko, D. Magomedova and others. Works by Mikhail Khoninov, Aksen Suseev and Erdni Eldyshev in the original and literary translations serve as sources for the study. The main research methods comprise the historical-literary, comparative methods, and that of descriptive poetics. Chronologically, the study covers the mid-to-late 20th century. Results. The study reveals, firstly, a synthesis of ballad and poem traced through the example of Mikhail Khoninov’s ‘Салькнла бǝǝр бǝрлдснǝ туск баллад’ (‘The Ballad of the Battle against the Wind’) and its poem-type transformation in Russian translation, the latter being also evident in the second edition of the original text; secondly, the genre of the poem in Aksen Suseev’s ‘Semen Nimgirov’ (Russ. ‘The Ballad of Civic Duty’) and Erdni Eldyshev’s ‘Marinesko’ gets transformed into that of the ballad when in their Russian translations; thirdly, the work identifies the prototype of Suseev’s main character. Conclusions. The ballad proves a most constant genre in M. Khoninov’s poetry, and the innovative synthesis of ballad and poem in the original text can also be found in his other work —  ‘Хальмг күүкнǝ туск баллад’ (‘The Ballad of the Kalmyk Woman’). The authors A. Suseev and E. Eldyshev wrote no ballads, and their intentions had been initially aimed at the genre of the poem. This reveals certain differing strategies of the author and the translator resulting in the genre differentiation of a selected work on the latter’s way to the reader.

1. Letter by E. Eldyshev to the author of February 16, 2021. (In Russ.)

2. Letter by E. Eldyshev to the author of February 19, 2021. (In Russ.)

3. Bardaev E. Ch., Kiryukhaev V. L. (comps.) Russian-Kalmyk Phrase Book. 3rd ed., rev. and suppl. Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 1993. 240 p. (In Russ. and Kalm.)

4. Basaev D. E. (comp.) The Seven Stars: Kalmyk Legends and Folktales. D. Basaev (foreword, transl., etc.). Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 2004. 415 p. (In Russ.)

5. Bobritskikh L. Ya. Silver Age: evolution of the ballad genre. Proceedings of Voronezh State University. Series: Philology. Journalism. 2011. No. 2. Pp. 5–10. (In Russ.)

6. Burykin A. A., Klyaus V. L., Kukanova V. V., Pyurbeev G. Ts. (eds.) Kalmyk Heroic Folktales. B. Mandzhieva (foreword); B. Mandzhieva, T. Mikhaleva, Ts. Seleeva (transl., etc.); B. Mandzhieva, Ts. Seleeva (comments, indices, etc.). Moscow: Pervaya Obraztsovaya Tipografiya, 2017. 561 p. (In Kalm. and Russ.)

7. Davan Ɣ. The Ballad of the Future. Khal’mg ünn. 1959, July 28. P. 2. (In Kalm.)

8. Dushan U. D. Selected Works. Elista: Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute (RAS), 2016. 376 p. (In Russ.)

9. Eldshä E. Marinesko. In: Eldshä E. Collected Works. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. Elista: Dzhangar, 2007. Pp. 291–298. (In Kalm.)

10. Eldyshev E. Marinesko. In: Eldyshev E. A. The Wise Tree. Verses and Poems. Elista: Dzhangar, 2006. Pp. 161–163. (In Russ.)

11. Epshtein M. N. Verses and Forces: Nature in Russian Poetry, 18th–20th Centuries. Samara: Bakhrakh-M, 2007. 352 p. (In Russ.)

12. Gudkova S. P., Pivkina E. V. Historical- and theoretical-literary aspects of the ballad genre. Philological Sciences. Issues of Theory and Practice. 2018. No. 9. Part 2. Pp. 248–251. (In Russ.)

13. Khaninova R. M. Mikhail Khoninov: A Brief Literary Chronicle. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. Elista: Kalmyk State University, 2016. 238 p. (In Russ.)

14. Khaninova R. M. My Path by M. Khoninov: theme of historical memory revisited. In: Peoples of the North Caucasus and Their Contribution to the Victory over Fascism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Conference Proceedings. Elista, 2005. Pp. 127–129. (In Russ.)

15. Khonina M. The Ballad of Belorussian Forests. Teegin gerl. 1970. No. 2. Pp. 4–5. (In Kalm.)

16. Khonina M. The Ballad of Klichev. Teegin gerl. 1969. No. 4. Pp. 98–99. (In Kalm.)

17. Khonina M. The Ballad of the Battle against the Wind. In: Khonina M. Under the Sky of Russia. Verses and Poem. Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 1971. Pp. 147–168. (In Kalm.)

18. Khonina M. The Ballad of the Battle against the Wind. In: Khonina M. Verses and poems. Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 1967. Pp. 64–77. (In Kalm.)

19. Khonina M. The Ballad of the Battle against the Wind. Khal’mg ünn. 1967, July 30. Pp. 3–4. (In Kalm.)

20. Khonina M. The Ballad of the Kalmyk Woman. In: Khonina M. Thank You, My Youth. Verses and Poems. Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 1981. Pp. 97–149. (In Kalm.)

21. Khonina M. The Ballad of the Kalmyk Woman. Khal’mg ünn. 1979, April 27. P. 4. Final part. See also: April 20, p. 4; April 26, p. 4. (In Kalm.)

22. Khonina M. The Ballad of the Portrait. Khal’mg ünn. 1969, July 16. P. 4. (In Kalm.)

23. Khoninov M. Struggling against the Wind. In: Khoninov M. V. Struggling against the Wind. Verses and Poem. Moscow: Sovetskiy Pisatel, 1970. Pp. 73–94. (In Russ.)

24. Khoninov M. Struggling against the Wind. Teegin gerl. 1969. No. 1. Pp. 27–40. (In Russ.)

25. Khoninov M. The Defeated Wind. In: Khoninov M. V. It All Begins with the Road. Verses and Poems. Moscow: Sovremennik, 1972. Pp. 106–122. (In Russ.)

26. Khoninov M. The Tale of the Kalmyk Woman. In: Khoninov M. V., Khaninova R. M. The Hour of Speech. Verses, Poems, Translations. Elista: Dzhangar, 2002. Pp. 45–79. (In Russ.)

27. Kilganova Z. ‘Steppe is with me wherever I go…’. Sovetskaya Kalmykia. 1972, December 9. P. 3. (In Russ.)

28. Lee Jeong Hyeon. From ‘burdensome secret’ to ‘second ballad’: perforated strategies of symbolist and post-symbolist ballad. In: Darvin M. N., Fedunina O. V. (eds., comps.) Memory of a Genre as a Phenomenon of Unity and Consistency of Literary Development. Collected Scholarly Papers. Moscow: Editus, 2018. Pp. 79–84. (In Russ.)

29. Lidzhiev A. B. Prophetic Dreams of Kalmyks: Images and Symbols. Elista: Kalmykia News Agency, 2021. 208 p. (In Russ. and Kalm.)

30. Luvsandendev A. (ed.) Mongolian-Russian Dictionary. Moscow: State Publ. House of Foreign and Soviet National Languages, 1957. 715 p. (In Mong. and Russ.)

31. Magomedova D. M. Genre model of poem in N. Tamarchenko’s works: a case study of unpublished materials. In: Darvin M. N., Fedunina O. V. (eds., comps.) Memory of a Genre as a Phenomenon of Unity and Consistency of Literary Development. Collected Scholarly Papers. Moscow: Editus, 2018. Pp. 10–17. (In Russ.)

32. Mankov A. The worthy book. Khal’mg ünn. 1971, October 22. P. 3. (In Kalm.)

33. Muniev B. D. (ed.) Kalmyk-Russian Dictionary. Moscow: Russkiy Yazyk, 1977. 768 p. (In Kalm. and Russ.)

34. Ochirov V. Poem and its folklorism. In: Kalmykia’s Contemporary Literature and Challenges of Its Ideological/Artistic Development. Elista: Kalmyk Research Institute of History, Philology and Economics, 1987. Pp. 64–81. (In Russ.)

35. Polyakov N. About peace and war. Sovetskaya Kalmykia. 1972, September 2. P. 3. (In Russ.)

36. Seleeva Ts. B. Kalmyk and Xinjiang Oirat Versions of the Jangar Epic: Index of Themes. Elista: Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute (RAS), 2013. 276 p. (In Russ.)

37. Suseev A. The Ballad of Civic Duty. In: Suseev A. I. Selected Works. Poems and Verses. Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 1975. Pp. 189–198. (In Russ.)

38. Susen A. Semen Nimgirov. In: Susen A. My Friend, Remember. Poems and Verses. Elista: Kalmyk Book Publ., 1965. Pp. 26–33. (In Kalm.)

39. Telitsyn V. L. (ed.) Symbols, Signs, Emblems: Encyclopedia. Moscow: Lokid-Press, 2003. 495 p. (In Russ.)

40. Tsvetkova N. Kindness and Light. Ogonek. 1971. No. 23. P. 9. (In Russ.)

41. Ubushieva D. V. Kalmyk folktales collected by I. I. Popov: cumulative images revisited. Bulletin of the Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS). 2017. No. 3. Pp. 139–151. (In Russ.)

42. Uzdenova F. T. Poem: the shaping of concept in Russian literary studies. Bulletin of the Moscow Region State University. Series: Russian Philology. 2009. No. 1. Pp. 171–176. (In Russ.)