Evgeniya N. Kuz´mina

Doctor of Philology Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Editor-in-chief of the scientific journal «Languages and Folklore of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia» («Yazyki i fol’klor korennykh narodov Sibiri»)

Research Interests

Folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East, studies of epic poetry, textual studies of folklore.

ORCID 0000-0002-7389-7811

WoS Researcher ID K-2471-2017

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Brief scientific biography

Evgenia Nikolaevna was born in the Irkutsk region. In 1970, she graduated with honors from the Faculty of History and Philology of the A. A. Zhdanov Irkutsk State University and in the same year was sent to graduate school at the Buryat Institute of Social Sciences in Ulan-Ude (now the Institute of Mongolian Studies, Buddhology and Tibetology of the SB RAS). Under the guidance of Doctor of Philology, the famous epic scholar Alexei Ilyich Ulanov E. N. Kuzmina prepared a candidate's dissertation on the topic «Female images in the heroic epos of the Buryat people». Thesis defense was successfully held in 1981 in Alma-Ata.

In 1983, she was invited to Novosibirsk to the newly created sector of folklore of the United Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences to work on the 60-volume academic series «Monuments of Folklore of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East» which publishes texts in Russian translation and in more than 30 national languages. In addition to the scientific and organizational work related to the coordination of authors’ collectives, E. N. Kuzmina ensured the proper scientific level of the series and adherence to the traditional principles of publication. In 2002, within the team that developed the concept of the series, she was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation in science and technology.

In 2005 E. N. Kuzmina defended her doctoral dissertation on the topic «The heroic epos of the peoples of Siberia: aspects of bilingual edition and typology (based on the series „Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East“)». In 2006, E. N. Kuzmina was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philology, and in 2011 — the title of professor.

E. N. Kuzmina was the first to undertake a study of the poetical and stylistic means of the heroic epic poetry of the peoples of Siberia. She developed the principles of systematization of epic stereotypes, revealed the structural connections of the plot, motives and «common places» in the Siberian heroic epic poetry. On the basis of the developed classification, she created the Index of common places of the heroic epic poetry of the Altaians, Buryats, Tuvans, Khakasses, Shors and Yakuts, which is widely used in comparative studies of Siberian folklore.

E. N. Kuzmina is the head of the Department of folklore of the peoples of Siberia at the Institute of Philology (SB RAS), a member of the Academic Council of the Institute of Philology of the SB RAS, a member of the specialized council at the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the RAS, editor-in-chief of the scientific journal «Languages and Folklore of the Indigenous Peoples of Siberia», a member of the editorial board of the «Siberian Philological Journal», a member of the editorial board of the journal «Anthropological research». Author of over 100 scientific papers, including two monographs and co-author of three monographs.

Teaching profession

Course «Folklore of the Peoples of Siberia» at the Faculty of Humanities, Novosibirsk State University (NSU) (1992–2008)

Course on the theory of folklore for students and undergraduates of the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (2013 to present)

Supervising coursework and diploma works of students of the Faculty of Humanities of NSU (1993–2012).

Selected publications

Sovremennaya epicheskaya traditsiya shortsev (na primere skazaniya «Ak Kan») [The modern epic tradition of the Shors (on the example of the epos «Ak Kan»)]. L. N. Arbachakova (comp., preparation of texts, translation), L. N. Arbachakova, E. N. Kuz'mina (ntroductory article), E. N. Kuz’mina (ed.). Astana, «Gylym» baspasy, 2018, 120 p. (In Russ.).

Skazaniya shorskogo kaychi V. E. Tannagasheva [Epics by the Shor kaichi V. E. Tannagashev]. L. N. Arbachakova (comp., text selection, comments, dictionaries), L. N. Arbachakova, E. N. Kuz’mina (int. article), G. B. Sychenko (music article). Novosibirsk, NSU publishing house, 2014. (In Russ.).

Ukazatel’ tipicheskikh mest geroicheskogo eposa sibirskikh narodov (altaytsev, buryat, tuvintsev, khakasov, shortsev, yakutov) [Index of common places of the heroic eos of the Siberian peoples (Altaians, Buryat, Tuvans, Khakasses, Shors, Yakuts)]. Novosibirsk, SB RAS publishing house, 2005. (In Russ., in Altaic, in Buryat, in Tuvan, in Khakass, in Shor, in Yakut).

Printsipy i poryadok podgotovki tomov serii «Pamyatniki fol’klora narodov Sibiri i Dal’nego Vostoka» [Principles and procedure for preparing volumes of the series «Monuments of Folklore of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East»]. Ed. 2nd, rev. Novosibirsk, 2003. 20 p. (co-authors V. M. Gatsak, S. P. Rozhnova, G. E. Soldatova). (In Russ.).

Kuz’mina E. N. Zhenskie obrazy v geroicheskom epose buryatskogo naroda. [Female images in the heroic epos of the Buryat people]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1980. (In Russ.).