CENTERS OF THE EPIC TRADITION IN THE URALS

This article considers the origin and development of the epic tradition in the Urals region. Special attention is paid to the earliest known source of our knowledge of Russian epic texts — the book Drevnie rossiiske stikhotvoreniia, sobrannye Kirshei Danilovym (Ancient Russian poems collected by Kirsha Danilov), which was published in Moscow in 1804. The article examines the influence of this collection of texts on the epic tradition of the Urals region. It names the main performers and collectors who gathered and studied the epics of that area. The article also provides a list of the main plots of the epic texts that were found in archive materials and publications that were made by folklore researchers in the 19th and 20th centuries. The study compares and defines specific features of plots of epic texts from the collection of Kirsha Danilov and plots of texts that were recorded and published later.