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Oral Tradition 11.1 _____________________________________________________________ Volume 11 March 1996 Number 1 _____________________________________________________________ Editor Editorial Assistants John Miles Foley Michael Barnes Anastasios Daskalopoulos Scott Garner Lori Peterson Marjorie Rubright Brandon Woodruff Slavica Publishers, Inc. For a complete catalog of books from Slavica, with prices and ordering information, write to: Slavica Publishers, Inc. Indiana University 2611 E. 10th St. Bloomington, IN 47408-2603 ISSN: 0883-5365 Each contribution copyright (c) 1996 by its author. All rights reserved. The editor and the publisher assume no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion by the authors. Oral Tradition seeks to provide a comparative and interdisciplinary focus for studies in oral literature and related fields by publishing research and scholarship on the creation, transmission, and interpretation of all forms of oral traditional expression. As well as essays treating certifiably oral traditions, OT presents investigations of the relationships between oral and written traditions, as well as brief accounts of important fieldwork, a Symposium section (in which scholars may reply at some length to prior essays), review articles, occasional transcriptions and translations of oral texts, a digest of work in progress, and a regular column for notices of conferences and other matters of interest. In addition, occasional issues will include an ongoing annotated bibliography of relevant research and the annual Albert Lord and Milman Parry Lectures on Oral Tradition. OT welcomes contributions on all oral literatures, on all literatures directly influenced by oral traditions, and on non-literary oral traditions. Submissions must follow the list-of reference format (style sheet available on request) and must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope for return or for mailing of proofs; all quotations of primary materials must be made in the original language(s) with following English translations. Authors should submit two copies of all manuscripts. Most contributions will be reviewed by at least one specialist reader and one member of the editorial board before a final decision is reached. Review essays, announcements, and contributions to the Symposium section will be evaluated by the editor in consultation with the board. Oral Tradition appears twice per year, in March and October. To enter a subscription, please contact Slavica Publishers at the address given above. All manuscripts, books for review, items for the bibliography updates, and editorial correspondence, as well as subscriptions and related inquiries should be addressed to the editor, John Miles Foley, Center for Studies in Oral Tradition, 316 Hillcrest Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Printed in the United States of America. Epics Along the Silk Roads Lauri Honko, Special Editor EDITORIAL BOARD Patricia Arant Mark W. Edwards Brown University Stanford University Russian Ancient Greek Samuel Armistead Ruth Finnegan University of California/Davis Open University Hispanic, comparative African, South Pacific Ilhan Başgöz Donald K. Fry Indiana University Poynter Institute Turkish Old English Richard Bauman Lee Haring Indiana University Brooklyn College, CUNY Folklore African Franz H. Bäuml Joseph Harris Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Harvard University Middle High German Old Norse Roderick Beaton Lauri Harvilahti King’s College, London University of Helsinki Modern Greek Finnish, comparative Dan Ben-Amos Melissa Heckler University of Pennsylvania New York Storytelling Center Folklore Storytelling Daniel Biebuyck Lauri Honko University of Delaware University of Turku African Finish, Indian Robert P. Creed Dell Hymes Univ. of Mass./Amherst University of Virginia Old English, comparative Native American, Linguistics Donald Cosentino Martin Jaffee Univ. of California/Los Angeles University of Washington African Hebrew Bible Robert Culley Elizabeth Jeffreys McGill University University of Sydney Biblical Studies Byzantine Greek Joseph J. Duggan Michael Jeffreys Univ. of Cal./Berkeley University of Sydney French, Spanish, comparative Byzantine Greek Alan Dundes Minna Skafte Jensen Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Odense University Folklore Ancient Greek, Latin EDITORIAL BOARD Werner Kelber Walter J. Ong Rice University St. Louis University (Emeritus) Biblical Studies Hermeneutics of orality and literacy Robert Kellogg University of Virginia Svetozar Petrović Old Germanic, comparative University of Novi Sad South Slavic, Critical theory Carl Lindahl University of Houston Burton Raffel Middle English Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana Richard Martin Translation Princeton University Ancient Greek Alain Renoir Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Victor Mair (Emeritus) University of Pennsylvania Old Germanic, Old French, Chinese comparative Nada Milošević-Djordjević Bruce A. Rosenberg University of Belgrade Brown University South Slavic Folk narrative, Medieval literature Stephen Mitchell Harvard University Joel Sherzer Scandinavian University of Texas/Austin Native American, Anthropology Michael Nagler Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Dennis Tedlock Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, SUNY/Buffalo comparative Native American Gregory Nagy J. Barre Toelken Harvard University Utah State University Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Folklore, Native American comparative Ronald J. Turner Joseph Falaky Nagy Univ. of Missouri/Columbia Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Storytelling Old Irish Ruth Webber Jacob Neusner University of Chicago Brown University (Emerita) Hebrew, Biblical Studies Spanish, comparative John D. Niles Michael Zwettler Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Ohio State University Old English Balladry Arabic Felix J. Oinas Indiana University Finnish, Russian Contents Lauri Honko Introduction Epics along the Silk Roads: Mental Text, Performance, and Written Codification .........................................................................1 Lauri Honko Epic and Identity:National, Regional, Communal, Individual ......18 Lauri Harvilahti Epos and National Identity: Transformations and Incarnations ...37 Lotte Tarkka Transformations of Epic Time and Space: Creating the World’s Creation in Kalevala-metric Poetry ...............................................50 Walther Heissig The Present State of the Mongolian Epic and Some Topics for Future Research ............................................................................ 85 Harry Halén G. J. Ramstedt as a Recorder of Khalkha Epics ............................99 Nicole Revel Kudaman: An Oral Epic in the Palawan Highlands ....................108 S. Ju. Nekljudov The Mechanisms of Epic Plot and the Mongolian Geseriad ...... 133 Petteri Koskikallio From Classical to Postclassical: Changing Ideologies and Changing Epics in lndia ..............................................................144 Alla Alieva Caucasian Epics: Textualist Principles in Publishing .................154 B. A. Viveka Rai Epics in the Oral Genre System of Tulunadu ...............................163 Oral Tradition, 11/1 (1996): 1-17 Epics along the Silk Roads: Mental Text, Performance, and Written Codification Lauri Honko The idea of launching studies on the epics to be found along the Silk Roads was born in France and Finland almost simultaneously in 1989-90. At the 25th General Conference of UNESCO held in Paris in October- November 1989, a long and bureaucratic, yet historical process was brought to a happy end when the Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore was adopted by the Conference. The aim of this hitherto most authoritative document about the importance of folklore and oral traditions for national, ethnic, and regional cultural identities and for world culture in general was to raise awareness of the role of modern documentation work in creating new cultural resources through conservation, preservation, and dissemination of fragile local traditions (Honko 1989a, 1990b). Among the members of the Finnish delegation at the conference the idea was born that a comparative survey of some valuable, fairly widespread oral traditions in the form of an international research project or conference would signal the value of oral traditions to the international community. Someone mentioned fairy tales as a possible topic. In the same session, information was disseminated about the UNESCO project called “Integral Study of the Silk Roads: Roads of Dialogue.” It was part of the UNESCO program for the World Decade of Cultural Development and funds were allocated to a vast number of conferences and projects in many humanistic fields bringing together scholars from East and West. What about fairy tales along the Silk Roads? They were widespread and well liked by young and old. After some consideration, however, oral epics came to the fore in our informal discussions. They had more obvious connections to cultural identities and worldviews. What was more important, there were living oral epics among peoples living along the Silk Roads, both the Desert Route (Turkey, Caucasia, Central Asia, China) and the Maritime Route (the 2 LAURI HONKO Balkans, India, the Philippines, China). In fact, the Silk Road cultures seemed a veritable repository of vanishing long epics. Earlier in the same year, I had witnessed the singing of Tulu oral epics in southern Karnataka, India, where Indian and Nordic colleagues joined forces to train young scholars in modern fieldwork along the guidelines
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