Oral traditions are influenced by certain types of written culture (canonical Orthodox Christian
writings, literary poetry) and media culture (radio, television). To reveal the interaction between
oral folk traditions and written culture Erzya and Moksha folklore texts are studied. Selfrecorded
texts reflecting the unique traits of oral folklore works are analyzed as additional sources
for understanding the processes of interaction between oral traditions and written culture.
For the purpose of preliminary classification of texts functioning within oral traditions, we
distinguish the following two groups of texts: according to their form (written texts, self-recorded
texts, spoken texts, and sung texts) and their type (folklore or literary texts). The paper considers
various types of borrowed texts found within the Siberian Mordvin oral tradition – namely, borrowed
literary and traditional poetic works. Native Siberian Mordvin folklore performers use
written literary Erzya-Mordvin texts (works by poet and folklore performer S. M. Lyulyakina)
in order to broaden their repertoire. Moreover, published Erzya-Mordvin folklore works are also
used in their repertoire. To analyze song texts, we compared published texts, self-recorded texts,
and oral texts. When describing the borrowed literary texts, we discovered an increase in phonetic
changes shifting from published to oral texts. The analysis of borrowed traditional poetry (from
published sources and media) shows these texts to undergo a process of adaptation to oral performance
needs.
Being integrated with oral traditions, published literary texts undergo a relatively small number
of changes (mostly concerning the phonetic level, as well as some technical lexical changes
for the sake of preservation of syllable number), whereas the phonetic changes in adapted folklore
texts are minimal. However, the number of changes in words and word combinations increases
significantly, and unregulated repetitions, changes in the order of lines, as well as changes
in structure and form of verses may also be observed. The use of literary or traditional Mordvin
texts borrowed from printed or media sources by traditional folklore performers activates the role of their native language and ethnic culture and is of great importance for the process of ethnic
identity formation.
Eremkina T. I. Sado, sado Ozkson’ kuzhov (kezeren’ erzyan’ koytnen’ koryas nalksema) [Ancient Erzya game rites]. Syatko. 1992, no. 9, pp. 61–68. [In Erzya language].
Lyulyakina S. M. Evtan tynenk, mezde nudees’ moras’. Stikhotvoreniyat, evkst, evtamot, p’esat [Will tell you what he sang flute. Poems, fairy tales, tales, plays]. I. K. Inzhevatov (Comp.). Saransk, Mordov. kn. izd. 1994, 320 p. [In Erzya language].
Neklyudov S. Yu. Fol’klor sovremennogo goroda [The folklore of the modern city]. Sovremennyy gorodskoy fol’klor [Modern urban folklore]. A. F. Belousov, I. S. Veselova, S. Yu. Neklyudov (Eds). Moscow, RGGU, 2003, pp. 5–24.
Neklyudov S. Yu. Posle fol’klora [After folklore]. Zhivaya starina, 1995, no. 1, pp. 2–4.
Penza enkson’ morot [Penza songs]. Syatko. 1992, no. 9, p. 69. [In the Erzya language].
Putilov B. N. Teoreticheskie problemy sovremennoy fol’kloristiki. Kurs lektsiy dlya studentov Muzykal’no-etnograficheskogo otdeleniya Sankt-Peterburgskoy gosudarstvennoy konservatorii (1995–1995 gg.) [Theoretical problems of modern folklore studies. Course of lectures for students
of the Musical-ethnographic Department of the St. Petersburg state Conservatory (1995–1995)]. St. Petersburg, IPTs SPGUTD, 2006, 315 p.
Zemtsovskiy I. I. Narodnaya muzyka i sovremennost’ (K probleme opredeleniya fol’klora) [Folk music and modernity (to the problem of definition of folklore)]. In: Sovremennost’ I fol’klor. Stat’i i materialy [Modernity and folklore. Articles and materials]. Moscow, Muzyka, 1977, pp. 28–75.