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DOI: 10.25178/nit.2023.2.11
PHILOLOGY
Article
Defining the structure of the epic Khan Kharangui
Tserennadmid Nyamsuren, Baldoo Dagzmaa
National University of Mongolia, Mongolia, Sendenjav Dulam
Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture, Mongolia
The article analyzes the syntagmatic and paradigmatic structure of "Khan Kharangui" as the origin of Mongolian epics. In doing so, through syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis each meaningful narrative in the epic is traced on the sentence level and consolidated in a chart grouping all these narratives. The theoretical and methodological significance of this study is to demonstrate how to apply the techniques of structural and syntagmatic analysis while studying epic poetry.
The manuscripts of "Khan Kharangui" from Okin (Buryatia, Russia) and Kyzyl (Tuva, Russia) as well as "Rinchen" (published in Hungary) and "Tod Useg" (St. Petersburg, Russia) are known to researchers. It was concluded that all the manuscripts of "Khan Kharangui" are originated from one source, namely from the source written in ancient script tod useg. Since that source was substantially damaged, the other sources are used in this study. The Okin and the Rinchen manuscripts match almost word for word while the Kyzyl manuscript is more literary both in stylistic and orthographic aspects, but some episodes are rendered in a somewhat more shortened form compared to the former manuscripts. There are slight differences in their size, but they are same in terms of substantive functions and structures.
When analyzing the syntagmatic structure of the epic by means of the functions described in Vladimir Propp's "Morphology of the Folktale", the following functions are not identified in the epic about Khan Kharangui: branding (J), unrecognized arrival (O), unfounded claims (L), difficult task (M), solution (N), recognition (Q) and exposure (Ex).
As for the paradigmatic structure of the epic, it could be analyzed by the method proposed in "The Structural Study of Myth" by Claude Lévi-Strauss. A particular feature in the paradigmatic structure of the epic is that it legitimizes how one ripostes and what the ultimate results will be when the established relationships and attitudes are violated. That is why each column on the left constitutes a premise or condition for the column on the right, and each column on the right becomes a consequence or implication for the left one with respect to the two columns on the right and left in the illustrated chart.
Keywords: Mongolian epic; epic structure; syntagmatic analysis; paradigmatic analysis; legitimation; binary opposition; spatial transference
For citation:
Nyamsuren T., Dagzmaa B. and Dulam S. Defining the structure of the epic Khan Kharangui. New Research of Tuva, 2023, no. 2, pp. 153-165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2023.2.11
NYAMSUREN, Tserennadmid, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia. Postal address: 206, II Bldg., University St. 1, Baga toiruu, Sukhbaatar district, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. E-mail: nyamsuren.ts@num.edu.mn
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5675-474X
■ DAGZMAA, Baldoo, PhD, Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia. Postal address: 206, II Bldg., University St. 1, Baga toiruu, Sukhbaatar district, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. E-mail: dagzmaa@num.edu.mn
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0211-0038
DULAM, Sendenjav, Doctor of Philology, Professor, The School of Dance Arts, Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture. Postal address: 26, Baga toiruu, Chingeltei district, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. E-mail: sosedula@gmail.com
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ФИЛОЛОГИЯ
Статья
Определение структуры эпоса «Хан Харангуй»
Цереннадмид Нямсурен, Балдоо Дагзмаа
Монгольский государственный университет, Монголия, Сенденджав Дулам
Монгольский национальный университет искусств и культуры, Монголия
В данной статье анализируется синтагматическая и парадигматическая структура эпоса «Хан Харангуй», рассматриваемого как источник монгольских эпосов. Для этого с помощью синтагматического и парадигматического анализа каждый смысловой нарратив в эпосе прослеживается на уровне предложения и в краткой форме приводится в таблице, группирующей эти нарративы. Теоретическое и методологическое значение данного исследования заключается в демонстрации того, как применять техники структурно-синтагматического анализа при изучении эпической поэзии.
Рукописи эпоса «ХанХарангуй» из Окина (Бурятия, Россия), Кызыла (Тува, Россия), а также «Ринчен» (опубликована в Венгрии) и «Тод Усегу» (г. Санкт-Петербург, Россия) находятся в академическом обращении. Был сделан вывод, что все рукописи «Хана Харангуй» взяты из одного источника, а именно из источника, написанного на языке древней письменности тод усегу. Поскольку этот источник был существенно поврежден, в данном исследовании используются другие источники. Рукописи из Окина и «Ринчен» совпадают почти дословно, в то время как кызыльская рукопись более лите-ратурна как в стилистическом, так и в орфографическом аспектах, но некоторые эпизоды представлены в несколько более сокращенной форме по сравнению с предыдущими рукописями. Существуют небольшие различия в их размерах, однако они одинаковы с точки зрения субстантивных функций и структур.
При анализе синтагматической структуры эпоса с помощью функций, описанных в «Морфологии сказки» В. Я. Проппа, в эпосе о хане Харанги не выявлены следующие функции: клеймение, отметка (К), неузнанное прибытие (Х), необоснованные притязания (Ф), трудная задача (З), решение (Р), узнавание (У) и обличение (О).
Парадигматическую структуру эпоса можно проанализировать по методу, предложенному в «Структурном исследовании мифа» К. Леви-Строссом. Особенностью парадигматической структуры эпоса является то, что она легитимизирует, каким образом человек реагирует и каковы будут конечные результаты, когда установленные взаимоотношения нарушаются, а точки зрения искажаются. Поэтому каждый столбец слева составляет предпосылку или условие для столбца справа, а каждый столбец справа становится следствием или предпосылкой для левого относительно двух столбцов на правой и левой стороне представленной таблицы.
Ключевые слова: монгольский эпос; эпическая структура; синтагматический анализ; парадигматический анализ; легитимизация; бинарная оппозиция; пространственный перенос
Для цитирования:
Nyamsuren T., Dagzmaa B. and Dulam S. Defining the structure of the epic Khan Kharangui // Новые исследования Тувы. 2023. № 2. С. 153-165. DOI: https://doi.Org/10.25178/nit.2023.2.11
Нямсурен Цереннадмид — доктор наук (PhD), доцент кафедры философии и религиоведения факультета свободных искусств и наук Монгольского государственного университета. Адрес: Монгол Улс, Улаанбаатар хот, СYхбаатар дуурэг, Бага тойруу, Хичээлийн II байр, 206 тоот. Эл. адрес: nyamsuren.ts@num.edu.mn
■ Дагзмаа Балдоо — доктор наук (PhD), профессор кафедры философии и религиоведения факультета свободных искусств и наук Монгольского государственного университета. Адрес: Монгол Улс, Улаанбаатар хот, Сухбаатар дуурэг, Бага тойруу, Хичээлийн II байр, 206 тоот. Эл. адрес: dagzmaa@num.edu.mn Дулам Сенденжав — доктор филологических наук, профессор факультета танцевальных искусств Монгольского национального университета искусств и культуры, Адрес: Монгол Улс, Улаанбаатар хот, Чингэлтэй дуурэг, Бага тойруу 26. Эл. адрес: sosedula@gmail.com
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Introduction
A voluminous epic that contains traces of a nation's history, culture, spirituality and worldviews holds unique significance as it provides a universal understanding of human existence and conditions. It records human history, traditions and values in a timeless and transcendental way. Epics are a valuable subject for contemporary study, as they offer insights into worldviews, philosophical thoughts and attitudes towards the life of previous generations, as well as ideals, images, precepts and lessons of ancient people.
In the postmodern era, myths, fairy tales and epics are no longer considered products of primitive and naive mentality, but rather as forms of rigorous thought that use a different logic than modern science. Structuralism is a useful method to avoid subjective interpretations and arguments when studying epic works objectively.
In this article, we analyze the syntagmatic and paradigmatic structure of Khan Kharangui which is considered as the origin of Mongolian epics. The main goal of this study is to define the structure of the epic Khan Kharangui using the typical method of structuralism. In doing so, each meaningful narrative in the epic is observed on the sentence level through syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis. These narratives are consolidated in a chart that groups them all. The theoretical and methodological significance of this research is to explore and demonstrate how to apply the techniques of structural syntagmatic analysis to the epic poem.
The written record of Khan Kharangui was previously found in some single volumes mostly in western provinces of Mongolia, but then in 1961, another manuscript of the epic was found in the Bayanzurkh soum in the Tov aimag (province). During their expedition to the Bayan-Olgii (Hovd) and Uvs aimags, a joint team of the Department of Ethnography, Linguistics and Folklore Studies at the Institute of Linguistics of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences discovered a fact that the spread of the epic was very expansive. It had thirty chapters and each chapter was a separate epic cycle. Based on these findings, the famous scholar B. Rinchen argued that Khan Kharangui was a massive heroic epic cycle with several thousand verses, even greater in size than the world-renowned epic cycle Janggar (Rinchen, 1966: 10). The manuscripts of the epic Khan Kharangui were found in Okin (Buryatia, Russia) and Kyzyl (Tuva, Russia). Additionally, alternative manuscripts known as "Rinchen" (published in Hungary) and "Tod Useg" (St. Petersburg, Russia) are also recognized. All of them have been studied by scholars.
It has been found out that all manuscripts of Khan Kharangui have the same source that was written in ancient script tod useg. Since that source was substantially damaged, we use other sources in this study. The Okin and the Rinchen manuscripts are almost word-for-word identical while the Kyzyl manuscript is more literary both in style and orthography, but some episodes are shorter compared to the former manuscripts. They are slightly different in size, but they have the same substantive functions and structures.
A structural analysis of the epic Khan Kharangui has not been carried out previously. Therefore, the main research questions of this study are what the structure of the epic is and whether typical structuralist analyses and approaches are applicable to epic poems (tuulis).
Literature review
"Epic is the master-genre of the ancient world", and it "had major roles to play in ancient societies, functions that ranged from historical and political to cultural and didactic and beyond" (Foley, 2005: 1). According to Sigmund Freud,
"Primitive man is known to us by the stages of development through which he has passed: that is, through the inanimate monuments and implements which he has left behind for us, through our knowledge of his art, his religion and his attitude towards life, which we have received either directly or through the medium of legends, myths and fairy tales; and through the remnants of his ways of thinking that survive in our own manners and customs" (Freud, 2012: 1).
In Vladimir Propp's opinion, none of the human sciences can advance without materials of folklore and their exploration (Propp, 1976: 16).
A study of Mongolian mythology is in a way an archeology of the "spirit". It means to recover the interrelationships between the mythological figures and motifs that have been shattered in oral tradition, textual materials, narrative mores, art and cultural works, and then to reveal them as complete ones containing whole comprehensive events (Dulam, 2012: 31).
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The epic not only expresses mythological thought in the broadest sense, but also serves as one of the main sources for philosophical thought. It is also a fruitful area of investigation in a sense that it is "an extremely complex cultural reality, which can be approached and interpreted from various and complementary viewpoints" (Eliade, 1963: 5).
As Elli-Kaija Kongas and Pierre Maranda argued, "In some fields closely connected with folklore, such as social anthropology and linguistics, structural analysis has been used with success" (Kongas, Maranda, 1962: 136). However, the scholars assumed that in the study of folklore structural analysis seemed to be slow at first. This evaluation is still valid. They also expressed an opinion that certain attempts had been made by Vladimir Propp (Propp, 2008), Claude Levi-Strauss (Levi-Strauss, 1955, 1960, 1966), Thomas A. Sebeok and Frances J. Ingemann (Sebeok, Ingemann, 1956) and Alan Dundes (Dundes, 1962, 1963), but they had not been received with great enthusiasm (Kongas, Maranda, 1962: 136).
There can be found different conclusions concerning the importance and value of structural studies in folklore (Waugh, 1966: 153). For example, it was concluded that
"the importance of structural analysis should be obvious. Morphological analysis of American Indian folktales makes it possible for typological descriptive statements to be made. Such statements, in turn, make it possible for folklorists to examine the cultural determination of content, to predict culture change, and to attempt cross-genre comparison" (Dundes, 1963: 129).
However, some researchers claimed that
"it seems that structural study can offer little help for solving problems of folkloristic classification. ... it is important to remember that structural study can solve only structural problems. ... we hope we have made it clear that a structural study never can describe a folkloristic item exhaustively" (Kongas, Maranda, 1962: 182-183; emphasis in the original).
Previously, the written documentation of Khan Kharangui, recognized as the origin of Mongolian epics, was primarily found in individual volumes in Western provinces. However, in 1961, a manuscript of Khan Kharangui was discovered in the Bayanzurkh soum within the Tov aimag. During an expedition conducted in Hovd, Bayan-Olgii, and Uvs aimags, the collaborative team made a significant observation: the epic had an extensive reach (Rinchen, 1966: 10). Comprising thirty chapters, each functioning as an independent epic cycle, Khan Kharangui surpassed even the renowned Janggar epic cycle in size, encompassing several thousand verses (ibid.).
Methods and materials
There are at least two distinct types of structural analysis that can be applicable to folklore, namely syntagmatic and paradigmatic analyses. In Alan Dundes' view,
"One of the most important differences in emphasis between the syntagmatic and paradigmatic brands of structural analysis has been the concern or lack of concern with context. Propp's syntagmatic approach has unfortunately dealt with the structure of text alone, just as literary folklorists generally have considered the text in isolation from its social and cultural context. In this sense, pure formalistic structural analysis is probably every bit as sterile as motif-hunting and word-counting" (Dundes, 1968: xii; cf. Dundes, 1964).
In contrast, the followers of Claude Lévi-Strauss boldly try to connect the paradigms "found" in mythology to the wider world, "to other aspects of culture, such as cosmology and world view" (Dundes, 1968: xiii). In this sense, this approach leads to a new understanding of myths and other oral forms as models (ibid.).
Since Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (Propp, 1958) was published in English in Western countries, "there has been an ever increasing interest in attempting structural analyses of various folklore genres" (Dundes, 1968: xi). His work is the exemplar par excellence in syntagmatic analysis. However, considering that the analysis was done only in the context of fairy tales, the question arose whether it applied to folklore genres other than fairy tales, and whether it was applicable to forms of folk narratives other than folktale.
In epics, names of the characters "change (as well as the attributes of each), but neither their actions nor functions change" (Propp, 1968: 20). So, we can study the epic "according to the functions of its dramatis personae" (ibid.; emphasis in the original). In doing so, it is required "to determine to what extent these functions actually represent recurrent constants..." (ibid.). Furthermore, it allows to find out if the characters
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"often perform the same actions" (ibid.). Therefore, the functions of the personages are "the basic components" and must be extracted first. The functions must be defined in order to be extracted. As Propp writes, "Function is understood as an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action" (ibid.: 21; see also: Propp, 1928: 30-31). The number of functions is limited, and "the functions of characters serve as stable, constant elements... independent of how and by whom they are fulfilled" (Propp, 1968: 21). "If functions are delineated", it is required to determine "in what classification and in what sequence are these functions encountered" (ibid.). As the folklorist points out, "The sequence of events has its own laws. ... The absence of certain functions does not change the order of the rest" (ibid.: 22).
On this foundation, the structural elements can be identified. The application of this analysis is based on Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale. The scholar's analysis is not limited only to Russian folktales, because if the form and structure of tales are inevitably connected with a certain culture, and "culture patterns normally manifest themselves in a variety of cultural materials" (Dundes, 1968: xiv), the analysis from Morphology can be applied to other types of folklore: "Attempts to study African tales. and American Indian tales. suggest that parts of Propp's Morphology may be cross-culturally valid" (ibid.), while "the comparative study of the mythologies of the world compels us to view the cultural history of mankind as a unit" (Campbell, 1960: 3).
The methodology utilized to define the structure of folktale has been used to describe the structure of epic. As we have mentioned above, a structural analysis of the epic Khan Kharangui has not been carried out before, although the epic has been studied by many scholars1. Hence, the primary inquiries addressed in this research revolve around the structure of the epic and the suitability of employing structuralist analyses and methodologies to examine epic poems (tuulis).
Conducting the structural analysis of the epic, taking into account that the epic is made up of constituent units, tracing them on the sentence level and breaking down the story of the epic into the shortest possible narrative sentences, we carried out a paradigmatic analysis of the shortest narrative sentences apart from the linear syntagmatic one. According to Claude Lévi-Strauss,
"Poetry is a kind of speech which cannot be translated except at the cost of serious distortions; whereas the mythical value of the myth remains preserved, even through the worst translation. Whatever our ignorance of the language and culture of the people where it originated, a myth is still felt as a myth by any reader throughout the world. Its substance does not lie in its style, its original music, or its syntax, but in the story which it tells" (Levi-Strauss, 1955: 430).
Therefore, more attention is paid to these constituents of the epic, and the epic poetry is divided into the smallest possible meaningful parts that are narrative sentences. The main source for the method described here is Levi-Strauss' The Structural Study of Myth.
The main material of our study is the epic Khan Kharangui which is considered to be the origin of Mongolian epics (Rinchinsambuu, 1960: 11; Traditions of heroic and epic poetry, 1980: 268). Although there was a new report that the number of the manuscripts of the epic Khan Kharangui had increased by one (Eriin sain Khan Kharangui, 2003: 10), only four manuscripts are in circulation (the Okin and Kyzyl versions, "Rinchen" and "Tod Useg"). It was concluded that all manuscripts of Khan Kharangui came from one source (Luvsanbaldan, 1977: 124-131) that was written in Tod Useg2. As the primary source of the epic suffered significant damage and fragmentation, alternative sources are employed in this study. The Okin manuscript was found in 1929 by G. D. Sanzheev who received it from a monk named Dagva in the Okinsky District of Buryatia (Sanzheev, 1937). Rinchen's manuscript was found in 1961 in the Bayanzurkh Soum in the Tov Province by B. Rinchen. These two versions match almost word for word (Eriin sain Khan Kharangui, 2003: 132) while the Kyzyl manuscript obtained by G. D. Sanzheev from Baldanzhapov, a resident of Kyzyl City in Tuva, and published in the book Turkic-Mongolian Linguistics and Folklore Studies (Sanzheev, 1960) along with a Russian translation and a brief introduction, is more literary in terms of style and orthography, however, certain episodes are depicted in a
1 For instance, G. D. Sanzheev (Sanzheev, 1937, 1960), A. V. Burdukov (Burdukov, 1966), G. J. Ramstedt (Nordmongolische Volksdichtung, 1973), A. I. Ulanov (Ulanov, 1974), Kh. Luvsanbaldan (Luvsanbaldan, 1977), S. Yu. Nekliudov (Nekliudov, 1984), D. Tserensodnom (Tserensodnom, 1984), B. Rinchen (Qan Oaranggui ... , 1988), R. Narantuiaa (Narantuiaa, 1988) and T. Baiasgalan (Eriin sain Khan Kharangui, 2003) can be mentioned.
2 Narantuiaa R. Mongol tuuliin aman ba bichmel khuvilbaruudyn khariltsaa kholboo: eriin sain Khan Kharangui tuuliin zhisheen deer [Relationship between oral and written versions of Mongolian epics: In the case of the epic "Khan Kharangui"]: Diss. Ulaanbaatar, 1999. P. 29. (In Mongolian).
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slightly condensed manner (ibid.: 265-266) compared to the former one. Consequently, while there are minor variations in length, they maintain consistent substantive functions and structures. In order to facilitate further studies, each line of the epic is numbered sequentially, the main plotline of the epic was summarized and analyzed using the method described above.
The syntagmatic structure of the epic "Khan Kharangui"
Some researchers believe that the primary subject of the epic Khan Kharangui consists of two key events: marriage and battle. Other scholars, for example, R. Narantuiaa, conclude that it was created in the form of a simple or a single-move epic that recounts only the heroic marriage and the consequent acts of revenge1. However, from the very beginning of the epic, the reason for Khan Kharangui's departure from home is clearly stated, and the subject on longing for battle and contest with his equals encapsulates the principal theme of this epic. It is even more evident in the final lines of the poem. However, the hidden and deep meaning that lies at the root of the epic can be found by breaking down and constructing its structure and elements. The theme of marriage coincides with the original purpose of the hero's departure from home in the middle of the journey.
In a good time of long ago
In Aihan Tohoi land... 1-52
...There was a fine man
Named Khan Kharangui, the best of men1 1 The initial situation (a): temporal and spatial
.With a kingly good father determination, composition of the family, miraculous
.With a queenly beautiful mother 12-13 birth, well-being prior to complication.
Born by vying with the earth
Born by struggling with the heavens 15-16
With a myriad of horses
Filling the Altai and Hangai ranges.
With black horses, large and small.
And a slender jewel chestnut horse. 44-70
.One day he asked his kingly father
And queenly mother, as follows
."What has happened to the sound of a rival come
a-wailing?
Where is the sound of weapons
That come a-clanking?"2 117-129 2 Lack (a6): longing for his equal one.
.Thus, his father spoke
"This body of yours is small.
Why would you rush toward such rivals?"3 130-143 3 Interdiction (y1): forewarning as interdiction.
.Then he rode on his jewel chestnut horse
.Leading his two black horses
.Reached the edge of his land
Settled in and lived there4. 144-159 4 Absentation (P3): departure of the younger member of the
Erhem Hara, the son of a heaven, intended to. family.
Seize the beautiful Mirror Gooa Dagina5 160-168 5 Villainy (A16): the threat of forced matrimony.
She dispatched her old camel herder
To give a message that
Erhem Khara was going to take his betrothed 170-205
1 Ibid. P. 83.
2 These numbers refer to the verses of the epic Khan Kharangui; see in detail: Eriin sain Khan Kharangui, 2003: 128-208.
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Thus, she set the messenger off by shortening
The distance of ninety-nine years
Into ninety-nine months
The distance of ninety-nine months
Into ninety-nine days and nights
The old man reached the edge of the land 220-225
"Is it your betrothed to be seized by the outsider?
Where is your mind if you are a fine man?"
As soon as he spoke so
The messenger fled, leaving an image of the size of blowfly6 6 Connective incident (B1): the message of mis-
235-295 fortune is dispatched.
Khan Kharangui leaped up, startled,
Looked at four directions and eight corners
He caught a glimpse of the vanishing image. 296-324
Then he rode on his jewel chestnut horse 7 Interdiction violated and departure of the hero
Proceeded in pursuit in direction of the old man7. 355-363 (S1!).
In folktales, the sequence of functions is strictly uniform and identical (Propp, 2008: 22), while in the poem Khan Kharangui, the functions of the preparatory section, such as absentation, interdiction, violation, reconnaissance, delivery, trickery and complicity, are encountered in any part of the epic, i. e. in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. Moreover, the function of donor and the hero's reaction occur both prior to and posterior to the hero's departure. It can be considered a special attribute of the epic which "has. a great, capacity for enlarging its dimensions" and "an advantage. that conduces. to diverting the mind of the hearer, and relieving the story with varying episodes"1. Furthermore, the function of transfiguration appears after the recognition at the end of the tale, whereas this sequence is broken since transfiguration is inherent in the characters of the epic Khan Kharangui.
In Khan Kharangui, the villains are defeated by the hero, fall in trouble, impart the misfortunes to each other and call someone in, then Ordinary-Dark-Mangus accepts the challenge to fight against the hero. This is a new case not mentioned in Morphology of the Folktale. It can be seen as an inverted form of two functions: the connective incident (to make misfortune or lack known) and beginning counteraction.
The heavenly gods discussed as follows Khan Kharangui took his betrothed. Killed the three wrestlers
Broke the legs and arms of the rosy and white women Ruined thousands of our wind horses 2315-2325 Then they decided to call for help from King of the Dead, King of Mangus, and King of Witches38.
2329-2333
King of the Dead and King of Witches refused the calling
Returned the messenger by saying
They were unable to do so39. 2338-2342
Only Ordinary-Dark-Mangus accepted
And arrived announcing that
"Let me succeed my brother, the Screeching Dark Eagle Shooting seventy to eighty arrows at once Let me lead the army of Mangus consisting of Three hundred thousand and three trillion soldiers"40.
2343-2361
38 Mediation (-B4): misfortune is made known among anti-heroes.
39 Acceptance of interaction (-C neg): the inverted form of this function or the villain does not decide upon taking action against the hero.
40 Acceptance of interaction and departure (-C|): the inverted form or the villain agrees to interact and departures.
1 Aristotle. Poetics. London, Penguin Group, 1996. P. 39.
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As for the functions arranged in pairs, one of them inevitably leads to another. That is to say, there is an implicative relation between them in which the second is the consequence of the first. The two functions, namely villainy and lack (A, a) constitute a pair with the function (K), the liquidation of initial misfortune or lack (Propp, 2008: 53). In the epic Khan Kharangui, the instances of villainy and its liquidation are clearly detectable, but it is uncertain how satisfying the consequences of the function are. The hero's longing for an equal counterpart is the initial reason for the course of the action.
However, if examined in detail, the moment in which the villainy casts a spell in the third move or passage creates a condition requiring a higher level of premise for death and resurrection that should have been experienced on the verge of homecoming of Khan Kharangui and his companions. This can liquidate the lack mentioned at the beginning of the epic. According to the events and contents of the poem, there is no challenger among human beings equal to Khan Kharangui, and it seems that only the heavens can provide an opportunity to eliminate such a lack.
The heavenly gods are about to avenge
.Thus, do not sleep for the whole night
Hold your weapons
Stay in this dwelling
.When an animal without qualities comes and calls
Shoot and slay it with no noise53. 2760-2773 53 Interdiction (y2): "An inverted form of interdiction
After the midnight is represented by an order or a suggestion" (Propp,
The three fell asleep54 1968: 27).
Resting their heads on each other's shoulders. 2781-2783 54 "Violation of the interdiction is motivated (M)" (ibid.: 96).
Cast-iron yellow tsegchig from heaven
Came down and asked,
"Are you three there?"
They awoke startlingly and cried, "Aaah"55. 55 Order or suggestion violated (S2).
Meanwhile a lump of poisonous feed
Dropped in their mouths. 2784-2796
Khan Kharangui turned into Eighty-Five-Headed Dark Mangus
Herges Good Buidar turned into a yellowy boar
While he went out to track him
Ulaadai Mergen turned into a stone statue56. 56 Villainy (A11): the casting of a spell, a transformation
While he rode on the jewel chestnut horse and proceeded after
them. 2800-2815
In this passage, the heavens do not perform the villainy function themselves, but do so through the servant animal that constitutes the condition in which the pursuit function associated with such action is not implemented. At the end of this epic, the saying "There is no lord above, and no enemy around" expresses a solution to the initial lack. In addition, this phrase, which indicates some anarchist ideas that there is no one to rule from the above, reveals a unique feature of Mongols' political thought. Here, anarchism is considered not as a political regime without government or administration, but as a self-adjusting, voluntary association free from a hierarchical system. The society depicted in Khan Kharangui does not have a ruler above, but there is nothing that puts the individuals and their will above any external determination such as a group, a community or traditions.
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When a syntagmatic structure of Khan Kharangui is consolidated, it looks as follows:
Where,
a6 lack: various forms are lacking
Y1 interdiction
в3 departure of younger people
A16 the threat of forced matrimony
B1 call for help
б1 interdiction violated
D2 greeting, interrogation
E2 friendly response
neg. - negative result for a function
D1 test of the hero
E1 sustained ordeal
Î departure of the hero
A17 the threat of cannibalism
I5 killing of the villain without a fight
G1 transference to a designated place through the air
T transfiguration
£2 reconnaissance by the hero to obtain information about the villain
z2 the hero receives information about the villain
A6 maiming, mutilation
H1 fight in an open field
I1 victory in open battle
H2 a contest, competition (the three games of men)
I2 victory or superiority in a contest
W* wedding
4 return of the hero
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Pr6 attempt to destroy the hero
Rs6 rescue from being destroyed
B4 announcement of misfortune in various forms
C consent to counteraction
A14 murder
n1 deceitful persuasion of the villain
e1 the hero reacts to the persuasions of a villain
A1 kidnapping of a person
U- villain pardoned
y2 order or command
mot motivations
б2 command violated
A11 the casting of a spell; a transformation
B3 release
F1 a magical agent is transferred
K8 breaking of a spell
w2 resumed marriage
I II III move
The paradigmatic structure of the epic "Khan Kharangui"
The main events of the poem Khan Kharangui can be arranged in the following patterns of relationships:
Erkhem Khara intends to take Khan Kharangui's betrothed
Khan Kharangui and his brother head towards King Agi Buural Khan Kharangui and Ulaadai Mergen struggle with King Agi Buural
Khan Kharangui and Erkhem Khara compete in three games of men
Mirror Gooa is given to Khan Kharangui
Erkhem Khara ravishes Mirror Gooa
Khan Kharangui arrives at the domain of the heavens
Khan Kharangui seizes Erkhem Khara
The heavens ask for forgiveness
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The first column refers to the relationship indicating that someone else attempts to take an engaged woman as his wife, while the second column refers to the response to these attempts. As for the epic Khan Kharangui, the second one has a common feature describing a spatial transference. It represents an entering into a unique world with unfamiliar culture, values and rules as an important moment of the hero's journey. Here, it is worth noting that the Mongols use time expressions to define a distance with regard to a spatial transference. It cannot be denied that such expressions could be cross-culturally valid, and all these are consistent with Ernst Cassirer's view that the categories of space and time in mythical thought have different modalities than those of sciences (Cassirer, 1955: 60). Moreover, in the epic, distance is expressed by units of time such as the distance of ninety-nine years or the land of three days as (using new units of length called 'light-second' and 'light-year') "in the theory of relativity, we now define distance in terms of time and the speed of light." (Hawking, 1988: 24). In defining distance in such a way, there must be an absolute standard of measurement, and it is easy to see here that it is measured by the sun or light.
The third column refers to the struggle and combat relationships of the opposing parties, while the last column exhibits common features grouping all the events of accepting the situation, surrendering and asking for forgiveness. As to the two columns on the right and left in this chart, each column on the left constitutes a premise or condition for the column on the right, and each column on the right becomes a consequence or implication for the left one.
It can be considered that the character of khozhgor boy in the epic Khan Kharangui acts as a mediator of binary oppositions: the hero and the enemy, the good and the bad. In general, the personage of khozhgor in Mongolian folklore has a dualistic nature referring to both the good and the evil. This makes it evident that the Mongols have been treating them in a contradictory synthesis by comparing one with another. The fact that the good may turn into the bad and vice versa is repeatedly mentioned and recounted in tales, legends and epics. This might be an indication for the acceptance of such transformations in society. An important idea of the Mongolian mythical thought is very philosophical. It suggests that there is a shade of the bad in every good and beautiful one as well as a ray of the good in the worst one1.
In the game of chess, at the beginning stage or at the start of each match, a pawn seems to be 'the weakest and the worst' piece taking useful positions that should be occupied by other pieces such as a rook, knight, bishop and queen, but if the pawn survives the middle stage where the real fight takes place and stays to the end when the problem is solved, then it can legally be promoted to any piece, transfigured into a 'hero' and become one of 'the strongest and the best'. Similarly, in the epic, khozhgor boy plays a role carrying such a dual meaning and mediating between the binary oppositions.
When analyzing the syntagmatic structure of the epic by means of the functions described in Morphology of the Folktale, the following functions are not identified in the epic Khan Kharangui: branding (J), unrecognized arrival (O), unfounded claims (L), difficult task (M), solution (N), recognition (O) and exposure (Ex).
Regarding the functions organized in pairs, it is inevitable that one function naturally leads to another. With regard to Khan Kharangui, the consequence part of lacking an equal competitor as the initial reason for the journey is satisfied in having 'no lord above and no enemies around'. This is mentioned at the end of the epic when the villainy is overcome and this requires a higher-level conditions of death and resurrection in the third move or passage. This phrase expresses not only a specific feature of political mentality of the Mongols, but also an anarchist view in which the will of individuals prioritizes their freedom. However, this is not emphasized and preferred over any external determination (traditions, groups, communities, etc.).
It is entirely possible to understand the common values revealed by the functions of the epic if we say that narrative knowledge has different categories indicating modality other than forms of cognition such as science. These values serve as models and justifications for human actions. Therefore, statements referring to what are considered as villainies and what should be fought against can be regarded as a kind of legitimation, justification or patterns for actions that are accepted in a given society.
1 In connection with myths regarding the genesis of the universe and humans, as well as the music, Sendenjav Dulam describes it in detail while discussing God and Devil as two creators. See: Dulam, 2012: 275-276.
Conclusion
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With regard to the paradigmatic structure of the epic, it could be analyzed by the method proposed in The Structural Study of Myth. A particular feature in the paradigmatic structure of the epic is that it legitimizes how one ripostes and what the ultimate results can be when the established relationships and attitudes are violated. Hence, each column on the left side represents a premise or condition for the corresponding column on the right, while each column on the right signifies a consequence or implication for the left column.
Khan Kharangui seeks to take part in a competition and struggle, creates a world without a lord above and an enemy around. He chooses to make himself through accepting challenges, callings and sufferings and overcoming them all instead of settling down and living a simple and easy way of life that is unknown and infamous. On this basis, an important aspect of epic can be observed. It produces a desire along with the establishment of the norms of actions and satisfying the criteria of competence in society.
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Submission date: 16.12.2022. Acceptance date: 03.03.2023.
