THE GESERIAD AS A MONUMENT OF CULTURE OF THE PEOPLES OF THE EAST IN THE WORKS OF RUSSIAN RESEARCHERS OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE XX CENTURY

Li Qingjie, Belous Boris Sergeevich

The article is devoted to the history of the study of the heroic epic "Geser" by Russian scientists in the first half of the XX century. Being the pinnacle of the epic creativity of the peoples of East and Central Asia, the epic of Geser occupies an important place in Mongolian and Tibetan literature, the culture of the nomadic peoples of Asia and attracts the attention of researchers around the world. Russian orientalists have been able to collect a wealth of linguistic and ethnographic material that has preserved the cultural codes of the peoples of Asia for many centuries. Scientists have put forward new hypotheses for the formation and dissemination of several versions of the epic.

Keywords:heroic epic, folklore, literature, folk hero, Geser, Oriental studies