With the unprecedented flow of cultural and spiritual revival that took place after the fall of the Soviet Union in the Sakha Republic, a Sovereign Republic of the Russian Federation, in the Russian Far East, there has been a growing, general self-consciousness brought on by intense efforts at cultural conversion, including new and often commercial interests in tradition. During the last decade, a new generation of intellectuals and scholars seemed to have viewed their past as inadequate to vindicate present positions. As a result, many have been in the process of inventing a new past to meet the situation: in this respect the Olonkho epic poems, originally oral poems narrating the adventures of supernatural knights belonging to the upper and lower world, have been the focus of a great interest. These poems were first written down in the XIX century and, from that moment on, were mainly taken as a source of inspiration (and re-creation) of the Sakha religious system. Dismissed in the Soviet period, the Olonkho poems in 2005 were proclaimed a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage. In contemporary Sakha Republic the Olonkho poems appear to be the main source to which intellectuals, historians and scholars draw not only to recreate a suitable religious system, but also a proper historical past and mythical ancestors through well-known strategies of identity construction such as historical revision and the reconsideration of collective memory. My paper wishes to explore the role of the Olonkho poems as an example of intangible cultural heritage dealing with the issue of tradition and cultural change.
New Ancestors for Old Traditions. The case of the UNESCO Olonkho Epic Poems in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia),
ZOLA, Lia Emilia
2014-01-01
Abstract
With the unprecedented flow of cultural and spiritual revival that took place after the fall of the Soviet Union in the Sakha Republic, a Sovereign Republic of the Russian Federation, in the Russian Far East, there has been a growing, general self-consciousness brought on by intense efforts at cultural conversion, including new and often commercial interests in tradition. During the last decade, a new generation of intellectuals and scholars seemed to have viewed their past as inadequate to vindicate present positions. As a result, many have been in the process of inventing a new past to meet the situation: in this respect the Olonkho epic poems, originally oral poems narrating the adventures of supernatural knights belonging to the upper and lower world, have been the focus of a great interest. These poems were first written down in the XIX century and, from that moment on, were mainly taken as a source of inspiration (and re-creation) of the Sakha religious system. Dismissed in the Soviet period, the Olonkho poems in 2005 were proclaimed a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage. In contemporary Sakha Republic the Olonkho poems appear to be the main source to which intellectuals, historians and scholars draw not only to recreate a suitable religious system, but also a proper historical past and mythical ancestors through well-known strategies of identity construction such as historical revision and the reconsideration of collective memory. My paper wishes to explore the role of the Olonkho poems as an example of intangible cultural heritage dealing with the issue of tradition and cultural change.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
