Traces of Russian Bylina Epics: G.I. Suleymanov’s Recordings in the Kama Region

This article reveals unknown pages of the history of Kama Region folklore studies associated with the figure of the famous Perm journalist Galim Suleymanov (1928–2003). While studying at the Faculty of History and Philology at the Molotov (now Perm) State University (1946–1951), he became seriously interested in folklore, largely thanks to P. S. Bogoslovsky, who taught at the university in 1946–1948. Even as a student, Suleymanov proved to be a talented, sensitive collector of Russian and Tatar folklore. He repeatedly participated in folklore and dialectological expeditions to various regions of the Kama Region. In 1948–1949, on the territory of the Yugo-Osokinsky (now Kungursky) and Solikamsky Districts of the Molotov Region (now Perm), he was able to record the bylina stories “Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor” and the contaminated text of “About Ilya Muromets” in retold form.

The article is based on archival materials, including Suleymanov’s autobiography; his correspondence with Bogoslovsky; and his notebooks containing folklore records. For the first time, the prose paraphrases of bylinas (Russian heroic epics) that Suleymanov recorded are introduced into scholarly circulation. Their textual characteristics are briefly described, and materials that allow us to judge the collector’s methodology are presented. Also considered are the factors that contributed to the emergence, preservation and transformation of the epic tradition in the Perm Region.