Article

Name: Chuvash song texts of the Kemerovo region in comparison with their variants from the Volga-Ural region

Authors: Ekaterina I. Ismagilova, Natalya V. Leonova; Elena V. Fedotova

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract:

In 1951, the Chuvash composer and folklorist S. M. Maksimov made recordings of folk songs from the Chuvash settlers in the Prokopyevsk district of the Kemerovo region. In 2022, the authors of this paper conducted fieldwork to collect samples of Chuvash folklore in the same places. The folklore recordings were also found that were made in different areas of the Vol-ga-Ural region, the territories of the “exit” of the Chuvash-Siberian settlers. All the above recordings made up the material of the present study. The comparative analysis of the texts of autochthonous and migration traditions has shown their variability to be manifested at different levels, including common stable word combinations carrying a specific symbolic load, song themes, and structure-level matches. The stable images include high mountains, swal-lows, a dove, a running red fox, a river, a black and a ladle, all of them loading the song texts with a symbolic, in some cases sacred, meaning. The song themes are quite diverse, with those of separation, good relationships with relatives, the hero’s inner state, and reflections on the transience of life prevailing. In terms of structure, the texts compared can be related differently: from a single-line match to the similarity in the content of two or three song stanzas. The analysis has revealed a stable continuity between the Siberian and the Volga region’s local traditions. Moreover, many Siberian samples involve rethinking the genre of songs, from ritual and ceremonial to lyrical.

Keywords: folk songs of the Chuvash of Siberia, analysis of song texts, folklore of Siberian settlers, comparative analysis of autochthonous and settlers traditions

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