Commemorative Narratives in the Interpretation of Folk Culture

S.A. Zverev (1900—1973), a storyteller, a connoisseur of traditions and a promoter of Yakut culture, is used as an example of his work to examine the forms of preserving authentic forms of folk art and reconstructing ethnic performing specifics. On the border of Nyurba and Suntar there are places connected with the history of his family, here he was brought up, his talent was recognised for the first time and his creative activity began. The influence of the above on his creative work is undeniable, but has not been investigated. The experience of interpreting the interviews of three respondents from the Nyurba district to determine the ethnography of space and places of memory in the authentic forms of folk culture, the keeper, initiator and translator of which was Zverev, is presented. Some provisions of the theory of social production of space, as well as the theory of memory place, considered as a symbolic tool connected with the reality of the past and as a source of meanings, are used. The research methods can be applied as a conceptual basis in solving private and fundamental problems of regional culturology, art history, in the reconstruction of folk music, dance art, etc. The substantiation of the impact of cultural memory on the formation of ethnic identity in the mode of anniversary commemorative practices is proposed. An example of relations: author – text (establishing the reality of the work) at the stage of cultural transition from non-written to written forms is considered. The article describes and analyses the process of folk dance reconstruction taking into account local ethnic specifics. The prerequisites for the reconstruction of authentic forms of folk art are defined and S.A. Zverev’s personal contribution to the preservation of traditional values is partially described. It is determined that memorial practices in the process of identification construct and permanently edit the ethnos’ representation of itself.

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