Historical Narrativesi in Chuvash Folklore

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Abstract

Historical narratives (istori halapsem) have an important place in Chuvash folklore studies. One of the reasons for this special interest is the lack of sufficient information in the sources about the Chuvash history before the 16th century. Studies on the origin and past of the Chuvash played a leading role in the construction of the national Chuvash identity. Historical narratives were also used directly to illuminate the dark parts of the origin and past of the Chuvash. The primary results of historical and cultural studies have had an impact on oral culture as well as identity construction. Thus, written culture and oral culture mutually fed each other. After the information in historical sources was transferred to oral culture and reinterpreted here, it took place in scientific researches, textbooks and anthologies. However, researchers working on historical narratives did not take this interaction into account and used every possible data to reveal historical facts and to support historical assumptions. Moreover, the data in the historical sources were also included in the relevant anthologies as a historical narrative as if they were obtained from oral culture in the future. In the article, Chuvash historical narratives are examined in terms of genre, definition, classification and sources.