Fanzilya Khakimovna Zavgarova,
“The Republican Centre for Traditional Cultural Development” State Institution,
66/33 Pushkin Str., Kazan, 420015, Russian Federation,
zavgarova@inbox.ru.
Gafur Masgutovich Sungatov,
“The Republican Centre for Traditional Cultural Development” State Institution,
66/33 Pushkin Str., Kazan, 420015, Russian Federation,
gsungatov@mail.ru.
The book “The Siberian Tatars. From the Spiritual Cultural Treasury. Anthology of the Siberian Tatars’ Folklore: Dastans, Munadgats, Bayts. Kazan: Kazan University Publishing House, 2014. 648 p.” by Prof. F. Yu. Yusupov, D. Litt., Corresponding Member of the Turkish Linguistic Society, includes dastans, munadgats and bayts that were recorded in the 19th-20th centuries. Continuing the tradition of the great researcher and scholar V. V. Radlov, the author accompanies these folklore pieces with transcription, reflecting the local pronunciation.
Speaking of munandgats and bayts, recorded by the author himself, F. Yu.Yusupov points out their consonance with folklore pieces of other Tatar ethnic groups, whereas dastans, surviving only among the Siberian Tatars, have similarities with the same genre of other Turkic peoples. The book presents data, stating that, in terms of their content and form, these dastans can be traced back to ancient Orkhon Turkic written monuments. The book would appeal to a wide range of readers due to the line-by-line translation of these literary gems to Russian, its new research information on the history of the Siberian Tatars and on the features of each of the genres.
Key words: oral lore, spiritual cultural monuments, folklore text, dastans, munadgats, bayt.