Article

Name: Shor storytellers about the spirits of the throat singing (qai eezi)

Authors: L. N. Arbachakova

In the section Повествовательный фольклор

Abstract: This article describes “old / ancient stories” (purungu chooktar), the most popular genre which is close to Russian myths and legends in genre features, but has its pecular characteristics. The narration of the performers about the spirits masters of throat singing (qai eezi) or heroic epics alyptyg nybak can be attributed not to the “ancient stories” (purungu chook), but to the “believable stories” (shyn choogashtar) or “short true stories” (polgan choogashtar). Collectors and researchers of the Shor folklore who recorded and published Shor myths, legends and historical stories in Russian and Shor languages (V.I. Verbitsky, N.P. Dyrenkova and others) still did not consider the topical questions of genre differentiation between the types of purungu chook, the problem requiring a special study. Storytellers who have received the gift of a wonderful way, trust in the owner and probably throughout their lives they always feel his presence and for errors during the execution of an epic conform exactly to their blesser. Stories narrators about acquiring a wonderful gift in a dream are typical for many Turkic peoples. The believes of Shor narrators in their qai eezi encouraged them to perform the epics by certain rules, for in case of errors or missays the spirit of qai was able to strictly punish them. Some storytellers considered that they have a personal qai eezi who blesses them, directs, and, in case of errors, can punish them. Others believe that every legend has its own master-spirit who watches carefully the unerring performing of epics. It is known that in times past hunters took storytellers with them to the taiga so that they could receive a blessing from the owner of the taiga for their performance. As one can see, in Shor tradition performers are considered to be chosen by master-spirits of mountains, taiga, masters of throat singing and heroic epics (spirits of heroes or heroines). Thus, in Shor mythology performers of epics often tell about a storyteller who received a wonderful ability, in his dream or in waking life. In addition, there are stories about the beleives of qaichi in spirits of throat singing (qai eezi) and of legends. These master-spirits accompanied performers throughout their creative life. As can be seen, the question remains: if every legend may have its own spirit or is it a uniform spirit of storytelling, but there may be master-spirits of certain tales or throat singing. Present-day qaichi when performing heroic epics have no such a reverential attitude for telling which is described in folkloristic works. Missays and repeating in their texts have become typical performance gaps.

Keywords: Shor storytellers, throat singing (qai), spirits of storytelling (qai eezi), legends, narratives

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