Unpublished diaries of scientific travels by N.F. Katanov to Xinjiang (1891-1892)

Abstract

Copyright © 2019 by International Network Center for Fundamental and Applied Research The article is devoted to ethnographic, geographical and folklore studies by N.F. Katanov in Xinjiang at the final stage of his scientific travel in 1891-1892. The article introduces for the first time the scientific information about Katanov's unpublished diaries. The text of the manuscripts is currently being prepared by the co-authors for publication. The researcher managed to reach the oases of Hami and Turfan, completely unknown to the European Turkology and gather the richest material on the culture and oral literature of the Uighur population. These materials have never been published and preserved in hand-written form in the State Archives of the Republic of Tatarstan. The manuscript of folklore studies of spring and summer, fully compiled for printing in 1891, and contains a real encyclopedia of oral literature of Kazakhs and Uighurs. This information was obtained from informants in the border town of Chuguchak (Tacheng). Field records of the remainder of the trip were partially lost, the diaries for March-October 1892 were preserved. Comparison of the white manuscript with rough materials makes it possible to reconstruct the N.F. Katanov method, who “stringed” folklore materials on direct travel experiences. The information received from the informants was recorded in a separate journal in academic Latin transcription, and when the diary was rewritten, they were included in the Russian translation under the day when they were recorded. Information about the terrain, weather, and customs of local peoples was transferred from field diaries without changes. To illustrate the creative method by N.F. Katanov excerpts from his original diaries. Firstly, this is a description of the Western Mongols customs based on the stories by the Kazakh informant, and secondly, a description of the Uighur customs and the city of Turfan, based on the direct impressions by N.F. Katanov.