Ethnonyms in the Texts of the Yakut Epic

Abstract

The article examines the functioning of ethnonyms and ethnocultural stereotypes in the texts of the Yakut epic tales. It describes hitherto understudied ethnic groups’ nominations, the contexts and internal logic of its use in folklore narration with the involvement of published and archival sources. The main attention is paid to the tropeic function of ethnonyms, that is their inclusion in the various attributive expressions correlated with certain objects of the epic world. The author shows that three largest ethnic groups — Yakuts, Tunguses and Russians — are at the center of the “ethnogeography” of the Yakut epic. Comparisons with foreigners is characteristic of peripheral (culturally alien) loci of the epic world, and in the character system the concepts associated with them are emphasized in the images of the character’s opponents. Consideration of the attributes of the “others” distinguished by the tradition suggests the importance of economic and cultural features in the formation of their stereotypes.