THE EPIC TRADITION OF THE KENOZERO REGION: THE FACTOR OF FEMALE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

This paper attempts to analyze the changes in the Kenozero epic tradition that marked the acceleration of its degradation and of its disappearance in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of these changes was the increasing female involvement in the performance of the epos (byliny). The female performance of the byliny and its specific attributes are reflected in the field data and in the repertoire. In this study, I analyze the materials that were obtained by P. N. Rybnikov and A. F. Gilferding, who were the first to collect and study the folklore of the Olonetz region in the 19th century. I also use the materials that were gathered in expeditions undertaken in the early 1920’s and in the late 1950’s and the texts that are included in the volume of the Kenozero byliny of the Svod russkogo folklora (Code of Russian folklore) series, which is presently awaiting publication. I also discuss Yurii Novikov’s unpublished paper on the epic tradition of the Kenozero region. The results of this study demonstrate the ambivalent impact of female performance on the preservation of the Kenozero epic tradition: although the tradition is maintained, it shows signs of decline.