Birtalan Ágnes: Kalmyk Folklore and Folk Culture in the Mid-19th Century: Philological Studies on the Basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna’s Kalmyk Texts.
EXCURSUS - INSTEAD OF AFTERWORD
EXCURSUS - INSTEAD OF AFTERWORD Such a treasury of the Kalmyk culture and language, as provided by the mid 19 t h century records of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna, has received only a brief introduction here. However, it is hoped that within the pages of this book the reader has glimpsed at the particular richness of Bálint's material and can recognise the great potential for its further study and elaboration. That Bálint for several reasons was unable to publish his text with German translation - as he indicated in one of his letters - and turned away from his original intention, is a considerable loss for the field of linguistics, and foremost for Mongolian studies as a whole. In addition, it is a considerable loss for the Hungarian academic reputation. The author of the present book, after one hundred and forty years since their preparation, offers an interpretation of Bálint's texts in English and undoubtedly this first attempt will be followed by other interpretations, translations and investigations of various aspects. Indeed, future plans are already in the offing and a brief discussion of the follow-up projects anticipated by the author follows. LINGUISTIC INVESTIGATION OF THE TEXTS An immediate analysis of the linguistic features of the texts will be undertaken in the near future in two main areas: 1. Studying the phonetic structure of the texts in the frame of Bálint's recording on the basis of Written Oirat original and after hearing the spoken Kalmyk idiom. 2. Completing a thorough morphological and syntactical analysis of the texts considering its genrespecific features with the help of Bálint's Grammar and involving some contemporary and later descriptive grammars (Popov, Bobrovnikov, Kotwicz, Ramstedt). INVESTIGATION OF THE TEXTS IN THE CULTURAL CONTEXT The main aim of the present volume was to interpret the texts philologically as precisely as it is possible with the help of the available publications, to create a basic context for each genre-group and to examine the texts according to some investigative aspects. Only some of the possible aspects have been proved due to the space constraints of the present volume. These uninvestigated aspects will be incorporated in further studies. The author of the present book plans to undertake the following studies in the nearest future: 1. A comprehensive research project to identify other parallel material in particular genres and particular texts, involving an inevitable search for all existing items of the text versions (songs, tales, riddles, proverbs, blessing-texts) and to identify the place of Bálint's texts in the Kalmyk and further Oirat or Mongolian cultural heritage. However, this task will most likely require the involvement, of other native researchers. 2. At the present, the author plans an investigation of the brief fragments of the Kalmyk folk life, i. e. the ethnographic texts in the contexts of the 19 t h and further the present day ethnographic material. This plan will be carried out involving the ethnographica collected among the Khalkhas and issued in a separate volume dedicated to Bálint's ethnographic corpus. The author as the editor of the DVD Traditional Mongolian Culture I. Material Culture has experienced field work among various Mongolian ethnic groups with regular research activity - and this background offers the other aspect of the study planned. In addition, researchers of present and future generations might uncover enough material for many more many more enlightening studies on the basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna's precious Kalmyk records. 168
