Article

Name: Genre traits of the song tradition of the Tuvans of the Ovyur disrtict of the Republic of Tuva

Authors: Ekaterina L. Tiron, Aziyana V. Bayyr-ool

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

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract: Currently, there is a danger of the local song tradition specifics disappearing due to mass migration of the rural population of the Republic of Tuva to the capital, Kyzyl city, resulting in the lifestyle changes and loss of traditional culture. Thus, it is highly relevant to study the genre traits of the song tradition of the Tuvans. This paper describes the main song genres of Tuvan folklore of the Ovyur district (Republic of Tuva), one of the local variations of Tuvan song traditions. The local culture specifics of this region, including its musical tradition, is due to its territorial remoteness, isolation, and bordering with Mongolia. Various tribal and areal communities of Tuvan ethnic groups have historically coexisted on this territory. The materials of the study are field records collected in 2009 and 2022, mostly represented by the examples of the kožamïk “song, chorus” genre. This genre is characterized by the performance of an improvised poetic text using one of the typical melodies. Kožamïk is one of the most mobile, democratic, and stable genres of oral poetic creativity of Tuvans. Other (notably less numerous) samples include the ïrï songs, lullabies, orphan songs, and Mongolian songs. The uniqueness of these songs comes from local toponyms and the names of the Tuvan clans living in this territory in the poetic texts being used, as well as from particular emotional intensity (particularly orphan songs). Musically, the Ovyur songs are characterized by typical melodies used both in kožamïk and ïrï.

Keywords: song folklore, Tuvan folk songs, Tuvans, Ovyur district of the Republic of Tuva, local tradition, ethnomusicology

Bibliography:

Aksenov A. N. Tuvinskaya narodnaya muzyka [Tuvan folk music]. Moscow, 1964, 254 p.

Bayyr-ool A. V., Tiron E. L. Rukopisi na todzhinskom dialekte tuvinskogo yazyka [Manuscripts in the Todzhu dialect of the Tuvan language]. In: Yazyki i fol’klor narodov Sibiri i Dal’nego Vostoka v rukopisnykh tekstakh 20 veka [Languages and folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East in manuscript texts of the 20th century]. Novosibirsk, 2020, pp. 271–374.

Kan-ool A. Kh. Pesennaya traditsiya naseleniya Erzina: intonatsionnaya kul’tura, zhanrovo-kul’turologicheskaya tipologiya i voprosy ispolnitel’stva [The song tradition of the Erzin population: intonation culture, genre-culturological typology and performance issues]. In: Lokal’nye osobennosti traditsionnoy kul’tury zhiteley Erzina [Local features of the traditional culture of the residents of Erzin]. Kyzyl, 2018, pp. 159‒187.

Kondrat’eva N. M. Statisticheskiy analiz zvukoryadov zapadno-tuvinskikh kozhamyktar [The statistical analysis of the West Tuvinian kozhamiktars sounds]. In: Otechestvennaya etnomuzykologiya: istoriya nauki, metody issledovaniya, perspektivy razvitiya: Materialy Mezhdunar. nauch. konf. [Domestic ethnomusicology: the history of science, research methods, and prospects for development: Proceedings of the International scientific conf.]. St. Petersburg, 2011, vol. 1, pp. 349‒364.

Kyrgys Z. K. Pesennaya kul’tura tuvinskogo naroda [Song culture of the Tuvan people]. Kyzyl, 1992, 142 p.

Kyrgys Z. K. Tuvinskie narodnye pesni i obryadovaya poeziya [Tuvan folk songs and ritual poetry]. Kyzyl, 2015, 432 p.

Lapin V. A. Ocherki istoricheskoy problematiki russkogo muzykal’nogo fol’klora [Essays on the historical problems of Russian musical folklore]. St. Petersburg, 2017. 440 p.

Mongush A. D.-B. Problema osmysleniya fenomena traditsii v muzykal’nom nasledii tuvintsev (na primere zhanra sirotskoy pesni) [The problem of understanding the phenomenon of tradition in the musical heritage of Tuvans (on the example of the orphan song genre)]. In: Kul’tura Dal’nego Vostoka Rossii i stran ATR: Materialy nauch. konf. [Culture of the Far East of Russia and Asia-Pacific region countries: Proceedings of the scientific conference]. Vladivostok, 2004, pp. 68–76.

Ondar B.K. Toponimicheskiy slovar’ Tuvy [Toponymic dictionary of Tuva]. Kyzyl, Tuvinsk. knizhn. izd., 2007, 550 p.

Putilov B. N. Fol’klor i narodnaya kul’tura [Folklore and folk culture]. St. Petersburg, 1994, 238 p.

Sychenko G. B., Tiron E. L., Kan-ool A. Kh. Rezul’taty polevykh i nauchnykh issledovaniy Novosibirskoy konservatorii v Respublike Tyva (1997–2009 gg.) [Results of field and scientific research of the Novosibirsk Conservatory in the Republic of Tyva (1997–2009)]. In: Ot kongressa k kongressu: Materialy 2 Vseros. kongressa fol’kloristov [From congress to congress: Proceedings of the 2nd All-Russian Congress of folklorists]. Moscow, 2011, vol. 3, pp. 281–299.

Tiron E. L., Kan-ool A. Kh. O rezul’tatakh fol’klorno-etnograficheskoy ekspeditsii v Ovyurskiy kozhuun Respubliki Tyva [On the results of the folklore and ethnographic expedition to the Ovyur kozhuun of the Republic of Tyva]. In: Narodnaya kul’tura Sibiri: Materialy 19 Nauchnogo seminara Sibirskogo regional’nogo vuzovskogo tsentra po fol’kloru [Folk Culture of Siberia: Materials of the 19th Scientific seminar of the Siberian regional university center for folklore]. Omsk, 2010, pp. 75–80.

Tiron E. L., Kan-ool A. Kh. Traditsiya gorlovogo peniya Ovyurskogo rayona Respubliki Tyva: ot arkhivnykh materialov k sovremennym zapisyam [The tradition of throat singing in the Ovyur district of the Republic of Tuva: from archival materials to modern recordings]. In: Ot golosa k instrumentu: fenomen zvuka v traditsionnom kul’turnom nasledii tyurkoyazychnogo mira: Materialy V Simpoziuma issledovatel’skoy gruppy “Muzyka tyurkoyazychnogo mira” [From voice to instrument: the phenomenon of sound in the traditional cultural heritage of the Turkic-speaking world: Materials of the 5th symposium of the study group on Music of the Turkic-speaking World]. Almaty, 2016, pp. 53–67.

Tiron E. L. Kolybel’nye tuvintsev: po ekspeditsionnym materialam Novosibirskoy konservatorii i Instituta filologii SO RAN [Lullabies of Tuvans: based on the field materials of the Novosibirsk Conservatory and the Institute of Philology SB RAS]. Languages and Folklore of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. 2022, no. 1 (iss. 43), pp. 22–31.

Tiron E. L. Lokal’nyye osobennosti tuvinskikh pesen kozhamyk (po arkhivnym materialam 1970-kh godov) [Local features of Tuvan kozhamyk songs (based on archival materials of the 1970s)]. Voprosy etnomuzykoznaniya. 2016, no. 14, pp. 37–47.

Tiron E. L. Pesni tuvintsev-todzhintsev: zhanry yr i kozhamyk v kontse 20 stoletiya [Songs of the Todzhu-Tuvans: genres of ïr and kožamïk at the end of the 20th century]. Novosibirsk, 2018, 248 p.

Tolkovyy slovar’ tuvinskogo yazyka [Explanatory dictionary of the Tuvan language]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2003, vol. 1, 599 p.

Tuvinsko-russkiy slovar’ [Tuvan-Russian dictionary]. Tenishev E. R. (Ed.). Мoscow, Sov. entsikl., 1968, 648 p.

Yrlar [Songs]. M. M. Munzuk, Yu. Sh. Kunzegesh (Eds.). Kyzyl, 1956, 208 p.

Yusha Zh. M. Obryadovaya poeziya tuvintsev: struktura i semantika [Ritual poetry of Tuvans: structure and semantics]. Novosibirsk, 2009, 166 p.