what is Tuvan literature?
The literature of the Russian republic of Tuva belongs to the Mongolian circle. Its oldest written tradition was that of the Secret Story of the Mongols. On the other hand, what is more specifically the tradition of that part of the vast Mongol world are the oral texts of varying length, from extensive myths to short forms such as riddles, proverbs, and sayings.
Modern Tuvan literature dates back to the period of Soviet cultural activity in the region, transformed into the People's Republic of Tuva (1921-1944). In the 1930s, the Tuvan language (close to the Mongolian one) started to be written in the Latin alphabet. The first literary works published and performed (dramas) often served the ideological agenda of the day: the creations of the kolkhoz, and similar. Among the 20th-c. founders of Tuvan literature there are such names as Viktor Kok-ool, Stepan Saryg-ool, Saltchak Toka (the author of an autobiographical trilogy), Sergei Piurbiu (the author, among other genres, of children's literature, such as the tale of the wise kids and stupid giants). In parallel to the ideologically oriented genres of writing and theatre (in the framework of socialist realism), there was also a line of poetry developed by Mongush Dorgu, Alexandr Darzhai, Igor Irgit, Anton Uerzhaa, Nikolai Kuular.
New tendencies, alien to the premises of socialist realism and the typical literature of the Soviet Union, appeared in Tuva in the late 1980s. One of the sources of inspiration was the past and local spiritual legacies, silenced under the vogue of atheism all over the Soviet period. Those rejected ethnic contents found their full expression after 1991; Tuvan poetry started to speak of horses and yurts once again.
Bibliography
Liudmila S. Mizhit, The Development of Tuvan Literature During the Soviet Period (1960-80s), Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, no 4 (2018).
Dongak Uran, Tuvan Literature, Himalayan and Central Asian Studies, vol. 23, no 1-2 (2019).
Modern Tuvan literature dates back to the period of Soviet cultural activity in the region, transformed into the People's Republic of Tuva (1921-1944). In the 1930s, the Tuvan language (close to the Mongolian one) started to be written in the Latin alphabet. The first literary works published and performed (dramas) often served the ideological agenda of the day: the creations of the kolkhoz, and similar. Among the 20th-c. founders of Tuvan literature there are such names as Viktor Kok-ool, Stepan Saryg-ool, Saltchak Toka (the author of an autobiographical trilogy), Sergei Piurbiu (the author, among other genres, of children's literature, such as the tale of the wise kids and stupid giants). In parallel to the ideologically oriented genres of writing and theatre (in the framework of socialist realism), there was also a line of poetry developed by Mongush Dorgu, Alexandr Darzhai, Igor Irgit, Anton Uerzhaa, Nikolai Kuular.
New tendencies, alien to the premises of socialist realism and the typical literature of the Soviet Union, appeared in Tuva in the late 1980s. One of the sources of inspiration was the past and local spiritual legacies, silenced under the vogue of atheism all over the Soviet period. Those rejected ethnic contents found their full expression after 1991; Tuvan poetry started to speak of horses and yurts once again.
Bibliography
Liudmila S. Mizhit, The Development of Tuvan Literature During the Soviet Period (1960-80s), Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, no 4 (2018).
Dongak Uran, Tuvan Literature, Himalayan and Central Asian Studies, vol. 23, no 1-2 (2019).
