OLONKHO
the Yakut Heroic Epos

(Detailed description as it was written in candidate application for the 3rd proclamation of masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of the humanity)

OLONKHO AS MEANS OF EXPRESSION OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

In new conditions of increasing self-consciousness of Yakut people the signif icance and role of heroic epic rises drastically.

In the environment with obvious fall of epic culture Olonkho today is in the state of constant transformation. Nevertheless, for countryside population of the Republic (of 33 regions 26 are village regions) epic still preserves its iden tity, functioning as one of the major factors of spiritual renaissance of Yakut people. The philosophy and ideas of Olonkho still serve world-seeing, peda gogical, aesthetic, religious and customs aspects of the people. In this light, the role of the epic as means of cultural identification of peoples is still valid and needs to be intensified taking into account the existing globalisation trends.

The republic itself is multi-national with more than 120 nationalities. That is why the issue of inter-cultural interaction stands out sharp. Folklore, and epic particularly, plays an important role as means of inter-cultural interaction for bringing together ethnic communities. It becomes clear if one notices that the ideas of Olonkho are patriotic and optimistic, and international in a way - the goal being peaceful life and the good prevailing the evil. The spectacular scenes, stilted style, commonness of characters and wealth of language always attract those who in one way or another get to know Olonkho. Thus, Yakut heroic epic earned respect and love of all the cultural communities of the Republic. It is the epic in one of its transformations that symbolises the Republic outside its territory. Among the Turkic and Mongolian nations (Buryat, Kalmyk , Tyva, Altay, Mongol, Even, Evenk, Bashkir, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, etc.) Yakut epic is recognised as classic legacy of archaic epic. Preserving and developing Yakut oral narrative traditions in new environment of globalisation will contribute to preserving and developing other epics of Siberia and Far East as a successive example of epic legacy survival for the humanity. The conditions that these nations found them selves in demand their interaction and uniting for survival.

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