Сонеты М. Б. Кенин-Лопсана как формула мировидения тувинского народа

Zhanna Zh.  Tolysbayeva

doi:10.25178/nit.2025.3.2

Authors

Zhanna Zh. Tolysbayeva Kazakh National Academy of Choreography https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6521-0576

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2025.3.2

Keywords:

Mongush Borakhovich Kenin-Lopsan; Tuvan culture; sonnet; sonnet cycle; genre; mythopoetics

Abstract

This article analyzes the sonnets of the renowned Tuvan poet, writer, philosopher, cultural scholar, scientist, and shaman Mongush Borakhovich Kenin-Lopsan. The material for the study comprises sonnets published in his book Tölge [Fate] (2011), translated into Russian by I. Fonyakov.

In the creative work of M. B. Kenin-Lopsan, the sonnet attains a transformative form that transcends the boundaries of literature and emerges as a unique phenomenon of Tuvan culture. The aim and innovative aspect of this research lie in the examination of the sonnet form as shaped by a distinct gift of shamanic perception of reality and its reproduction within the genre framework.

The structure of the article reflects the nature of transformation across the genre-forming layers of the sonnet. The organization of space and time in the sonnets primarily invokes a subjective and associative framework. It reveals the workings of the consciousness of a spiritually elevated protagonist undergoing the Tolstoyan process of “simplification” in search of dissolution within the eternal polyphony of nature. The associative context emphasizes the significance of ethnographic imagery and terminology as key semantic markers that guide the author's thought toward concrete observations and generalizations. The spatiotemporal structure bridges the sonnet's world-model with the mythopoetic one, leading to an understanding of the idea of human–nature unity as a core element of Tuvan cultural worldview. The analysis of metrorhythmic and poetico-aesthetic organization enabled comparisons between the original and translated texts, highlighting how the poetics of the Tuvan language shape and transmit the philosophical ideas of the sonnet.

The study of the genre characteristics of M. B. Kenin-Lopsan’s sonnets uncovers a central feature of the form: the sonnet functions as a necessary philosophical "bond," expressing humanity’s capacity to transcend the rapid flow of life and reach the value of eternal categories embedded in cultural and national worldviews. By uniting the sonnets into a cohesive cycle, the poet creates an epic narrative of return to origins as the sole path toward preserving human spirituality.

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