Modifications of the archetypal image of the Tuvan shaman in the works of M. B. Kenin-Lopsan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2019.3.13Keywords:
Mongush Borakhovich Kenin-Lopsan; Tuva; Tuvans; Tuvan Shamanism; shaman; Shamanism; literary image; Tuvan literature; archetype; neotraditionalismAbstract
The article analyses a modification of the archetypal image of shaman in the works of M. B. Kenin-Lopsan, the famous Tuvan scholar of Shamanism and writer. Our study covers his most significant works: a poem ‘The End of the Shaman’ (1971); novels ‘The Girl Who Disappeared’ (2000) and ‘The Fate of a Shamaness’ (2016).
The image of the shaman in the works of M. Kenin-Lopsan underwent transformation, as the historical events in Tuva were unfolding throughout the 20th century. The author’s work can be categorized into the Soviet (1950-1990) and post-Soviet (from 1991) periods. A prototype for the image of the shaman was found in the writer’s grandmother — the shamaness Kuular Khandizhap, who survived the repressions, arrests and several imprisonments. An exceptionally vivid portrayal of a shaman appears in the novel ‘The Fate of the Shamaness’ where the basic plot device is the symbiosis of mythological and historical time. Through her mysterious metamorphoses, the shamaness can interact with other characters. While in the poem ‘The End of the Shaman’ the shaman acted as a trickster, in the novel ‘The Girl Who Disappeared’ he becomes a victim, and in the novel ‘The Fate of Shamaness’ he evolves into a fighter for justice.
The diversity of the M. B. Kenin-Lopsan’s work allows us to see him as a scholar of Shamanism, a practicing shaman, a keeper of Tuvan shamanic traditions and as an artist who gives them a creative twist. The interpretations of shamans he offered in his literary work became very popular both in Tuva and abroad.
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Samdan Z. B. Modifications of the archetypal image of the Tuvan shaman in the works of M. B. Kenin-Lopsan. The New Research of Tuva. 2019, № 2 [online] Available at: https://nit.tuva.asia/nit/article/view/872 (access date ...). DOI: 10.25178/nit.2019.3.13
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Author Biography
Zoya B. Samdan, Tuvan Institute for the Humanities and Applied Socioeconomic Studies
Candidate of Philology, Senior Research Fellow, Group of Literary Critics, Tuvan Institute for the Humanities and Applied Social and Economic Studies under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tuva.
Postal address: 4 Kochetov St., 667000 Kyzyl, Russian Federation.
Tel.: +7 (39422) 2-39-36.
E-mail: samdan-sn@yandex.ru
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