Article

Name: Songs of Literary Origin in Siberian Mordvin Folklore: Creative Strategies of Adaptation of Borrowed Lyrics

Authors: Pavel S. Shakhov

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

Abstract:

the following article, we analyze several songs of literary origin adapted by Siberian Mordvin folklore. The study is based on 2007–2009 field materials recorded with the author’s participation in Mordvin settlements of the Altai Krai, Kemerovo Oblast, and Krasnoyarsk Krai; we also use Chuvash materials (2003) from the Novosibirsk Oblast. The materials are kept at the Archive of Traditional Music, M. I. Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory.

Our study focuses on two popular songs originally borrowed from soldiers (Cossacks and Red Army) and later adopted by several folklore traditions, including non-Russian ones: 1) “Znayu, voron, tvoy obychay” (Raven, I Know Your Ways), with Cossack melody and lyrics, based on P. Kozlov’s translation of V. Syrokomlya’s Pieśń Litevska (Lithuanian Song, in Polish); 2) “Kak rodnaya menya mat' provozhala” (How My Dear Mother Sent Me Off), with Ukrainian melody from “Oy, shcho tam za shum uchinivsya” (Oh, What Is That Noise) and D. Bednyi’s lyrics (Farewell).

In Siberian Erzya Mordvin and Moksha Mordvin traditions, these songs are performed in Russian or with Mordvin lyrics, the content of which differs from the folk versions and original lyrics. Our study shows that, on the one hand, in the process of adaptation of these songs, certain historical facts and traditional lyrical motifs typical for Mordvin culture have emerged in the lyrics. On the other hand, these borrowed songs stimulate further development of Mordvin folk traditions.

Keywords: folk songs of literary origin, Erzya Mordvins, Moksha Mordvins, Siberian settlers, process of borrowing

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