The Caucasian Nartiad: an Effort of Comparative Research
https://doi.org/10.22162/2500-1523-2018-15-124-142
Abstract
The Nartiad is an epic monument of spiritual culture inherent to a number of Caucasian peoples differing in their genesis, historical destinies, languages, and traditional cultures – the Abkhazians, Circassians, Balkars, Karachays, Ossetians, Ingushes, Chechens, Kumyks, Svans, Rachans, Khevsurians – that has been handed down from generation to generation for many centuries.
Since the mid – 19th century, the Nart sagas were actively recorded, published and studied by authoritative central and regional scientific journals. By the early 20th century, quite a bulk of materials remarkable in both volume and artistic merits had been collected and published.
The comparison of the Nartiad to epic monuments of other peoples with typological features similar to those of the Nart epic of the Caucasus (Russian bylinas, Western European, Iranian, Mongolic, Armenian, and Karelo-Finnish epics, heroic poems of Turko-Mongols) shall help reveal both original features and common ones, the latter bringing it together with other epic traditions at different levels.
About the Author
T. Khadzhieva
Gorkiy Institute of World Literature of the RAS (25a, Povarskaya Str., Moscow, 121069, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ph.D. in Philology (Сand. of Philological Sc.), Leading Research Associate, Department of Folklore
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Review
For citations:
Khadzhieva T. The Caucasian Nartiad: an Effort of Comparative Research. Mongolian Studies. 2018;10(4):124-142. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2500-1523-2018-15-124-142
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