Article

Name: Buryats as Siberian autochthones in I. Kalashnikov’s novel “The Daughter of the Merchant Zholobov”

Authors: N. N. Podrezova

Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper deals with the image of the Buryats as a Siberian autochthonous population in I. Kalashnikov’s novel “The Daughter of the Merchant Zholobov.” Kalashnikov was the first to introduce the Buryat ethno-cultural image in Russian literature. Lake Baikal and its surroundings represented exotic Siberia and Buryat ethno chronotope. It is not the Russian population that confronts Buryats in “friend-foe” opposition but the robbers who rule on the shores of Lake Baikal. By emphasizing both friendliness and unwarlike attitude of Buryats as their national marker, Kalashnikov offered an interpretation of the ethnonym “brotherly people.” The function of the Buryat characters in the novel is to help and guide Russians in the Baikal locus. In the novel, Buryats ethno-cultural markers are represented by their everyday life and beliefs. The ideological basis of the Buryat faith (pagan polytheism) is comprehended in the Christian paradigm for Russian characters. The perception of shamans in line with the Russian folk tradition of the demonic portrayal is due to leveling the meaning of cult forms and emphasizing their antiestheticism. Shamans appear in the same category with such ambivalent characters of bailichka as wizards and witches. By naming woman-shaman as Sibyl and Pitonissa, the author introduces the antique code of interpreting her as the heiress of pagan prophetess. The juxtaposition between the Buryats and the Russians is centered around the dichotomy of “savagery – civility.” By drawing parallels with the Antique world, the author shows “alien,” i.e., Buryat culture, to be the initial stage of unified human aspiration towards enlightenment and monotheism.

Keywords: Buryats, I. Kalashnikov, novel “The daughter of the merchant Zholobov”, Siberian autochthones, Baikal as an ethno chronotope, ethnonym “bratskiye”

Bibliography:

Azadovskiy M. Sibirskaya belletristika 30-kh godov [Siberian fiction of the 30s]. In: Ocherki literatury i kul’tury Sibiri [Essays on literature and culture of Siberia]. Irkutsk, 1947, iss. 1, рр. 80–105.

Belinskiy V. G. Kamchadalka. Soch. I. Kalashnikova. Vtoroye izdaniye. SPb. 1842. V tip. A. Iogansona. Chetyre chasti [Kamchadalka. I. Kalashnikov’s writing. 2nd. ed. St. Petersburg, 1842. A. Johanson’s printing house. 4 pts]. In: Belinskiy V. G. Poln. sobr. soch.: V 13 t. T. 13 [Complete works: in 13 vols. Vol. 13]. Moscow, AN SSSR Publ., 1953–1959.

Belinskiy V. G. Prokopiy Lyapunov, ili Mezhdutsarstviye v Rossii, prodolzhe-niye Knyazya Skopina-Shuyskogo. Sochineniye togo zhe avtora (O. P. Shishkinoy) [Prokopy Lyapunov or the Interregnum in Russia, a continuation of Prince Skopin-Shuisky. The writing of the same author (O. P. Shishkina)]. In: Belinskiy V. G. Poln. sobr. soch.: V 13 t. T. 9 [Complete works: in 13 vols. Vol. 9]. Moscow, AN SSSR Publ., 1953–1959.

Bogdanova A. A. Sibirskiy romanist I. T. Kalashnikov [Siberian novelist I. T. Kalashnikov]. In: Uchenyye zapiski Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo instituta. 1948, iss. 7, pp. 87–120.

Dmitriyenko A. N. Kak vragi stanovyatsya druz’yami v geroicheskikh skazaniyakh altaytsev i buryat [How enemies become friends in the heroic tales of the Altaians and Buryats]. In: Oppozitsiya “svoy – chuzhoy” v yazyke, fol’klore, literature, muzyke, kul’ture: Materialy Region. gumanitarnogo foruma nauchnoy molodezhi [Opposition “own-alien” in language, folklore, literature, music, culture: Materials of regional forum of young scientists]. Novosibirsk, 2015, pp. 50–57.

Kalashnikov I. T. Doch’ kuptsa Zholobova: Romany, povest’ [The daughter of the merchant Zholobov: Novels, story]. M. D. Sergeyev (Comp., comm., afterword). Irkutsk, Vost.-Sib. kn. izd., 1985.

Khomuk N. V. Roman I. T. Kalashnikova “Doch’ kuptsa Zholobova” i sibirskoye barokko. Stat’ya 1 [Novel of I. T. Kalashnikov “Daughter of the Merchant Zholobov” and Siberian Baroque. Art. 1]. Tomsk State University Journal. 2014, no. 388, pp. 35–41.

Khomuk N. V. Roman I. T. Kalashnikova “Doch’ kuptsa Zholobova” i sibirskoye barokko. Stat’ya 2 [Novel of I. T. Kalashnikov “Daughter of the Merchant Zholobov” and Siberian Baroque. Art. 2]. Tomsk State University Journal. 2014, no. 389, pp. 46–55.

Kyukhel’beker V. K. Puteshestviye. Dnevnik. Stat’i [Journey. Diary. Articles]. N. V. Koroleva (Concl. Art., notes). Leningrad, Nauka, 1979.

Loginova M. A. Etnokul’turnyy khronotop maloy russkoyazychnoy prozy pisateley Kazakhstana kontsa 20 – nachala 21 v. [The ethnocultural chronotope of the small Russian-language prose of the Kazakhstan writers of the late 20th - early 21st centuries]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Omsk, 2018, 23 p.

Mifologicheskiye rasskazy russkogo naseleniya Vostochnoy Sibiri [Mythological stories of the Russian population of Eastern Siberia]. V. P. Zinov’yev (Comp.). Novosibirsk, 1987.

Nekrasov N. A. Knyaz’ Kurbskiy, istoricheskiy roman iz sobytiy 16 veka. Sochineniye Borisa Fedorova. Chetyre chasti. SPb., 1983. Kamchadalka. Roman, sochineniye I. Kalashnikova. Izdaniye vtoroye. Chetyre chasti. SPb. [Prince Kurbsky, a historical novel from the events of the 16th century. The Boris Fedorov’s writing. Four parts. SPb., 1983. Kamchadalka. Novel, I. Kalashnikov’s writing. Second edition. Four parts. St. Petersburg]. In: Nekrasov N. A. Poln. sobr. soch. i pisem: V 15 t. T. 11: Kniga pervaya. Kritika. Publitsistika (1840–1849) [Complete works: in 15 vols. Vol. 11: Bk. 1. Criticism. Articles (1840–1849)]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1989, pp. 129–133.

Ocherki russkoy literatury Sibiri. T. 1: Dorevolyutsionnyy period [Essays on Russian literature of Siberia. Vol. 1: Pre-revolutionary period]. V. G. Odinokov, Yu. S. Postnov (Eds). Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1982.

Postnov Yu. S. Istoricheskiye romany I. T. Kalashnikova [Historical novels of I. T. Kalashnikov]. In: Literaturnyye ocherki [Literary essays]. N. N. Yanovskiy, B. M. Yudalevich (Comps). Novosibirsk, Zap.-Sib. kn. izd., 1985, pp. 118–186.

Pushkin A. S. Mysli o literature [Thoughts about literature]. M. P. Eremin (Intr.), M. P. Eremin, P. M. Eremin (Notes). Moscow, Sovremennik, 1988, p. 491.