Book review: Basangova T.G. Animals in Kalmykian folklore. Elista: Izdatel’stvo Kalmytskogo universiteta, 2019. 192 p.

In order to research and work with folklore texts, they are often classified, using character type as the basis. Animals as protagonists, if not the only protagonists, characterize animalistic folklore, widely represented in the traditions of the Mongolian peoples, for instance. However, the role of animals in the tradition of the Kalmyks, as part of the Western Mongolian people, has not been studied enough. T.G. Basangova has devoted a number of papers to this field of knowledge, analyzing the role of different animal characters. “A male/ female cat in Kalmykian folklore” (2019) or “The image of Hedgehog the Wise as a Cultural Hero in folklore tradition of Kalmyks and Oirats of Xinjiang” (2017), for instance.

The monograph under review explores how animals are represented as characters in mythology, poetry, folklore and literary tales, dances, ornaments and many other folklore texts. A whole stratum of material is being researched, some of which has been collected and researched by T.G. Basangova, and some was discovered in the course of reviewing archived expedition records, which was collected in the 19 century.

In order to work with the folklore texts, T.G. Basangova employs a comparative method involving general Mongolian stories, texts specific to certain Mongolian peoples, and narratives belonging to peoples neighboring the Kalmyks. A significant role is played by classifying the material, relating it to typologies of A. Aarne, V.Y. Propp.

The chapters of the monograph are structured as follows: the name of the animal, the meanings of the word in the Kalmyk language and the etymological hypotheses relating to it are given, and the role of the animal in various folklore texts and ethnographic sources are discussed, starting with those where it is most frequently mentioned. The analysis is accompanied by numerous references to the material collected and research studies listed at the end of each subsection of the chapter.

The monograph under review is the quintessence of many years of research taken by T.G. Basangova. It opens Kalmyk animalistic folklore to scholars and the general public alike.