Living Tradition in Action: The Chronotope of the Manas Epic Performance
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Abstract
This paper examines a contemporary performance of the Kyrgyz epic Manas as a living site of identity formation and affective transformation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2024 at Tulpar-Tash, a sacred site in northeastern Kyrgyzstan, it focuses on an encounter with the epic storyteller (manaschi) Kulmat Sydykov and his audience. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope, I analyze how live epic performance brings together mythic time, the embodied time of performance, and the personal temporalities of listeners. I introduce two concepts: the story-event, when a listener’s personal narrative is transformed through engagement with the epic, and the meta-event, the temporary fusion of epic, performative, and biographical chronotopes into a shared field of meaning. Through an ethnographic case of emotional transformation beyond linguistic understanding, I argue that epic performance remains a powerful medium for negotiating memory, identity, and ethical reorientation in the present.
Presenter Biography
Aibek Baiymbetov is a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and Research Fellow at the University of Central Asia. His research focuses on oral traditions, epic performance, and spiritual practices in Central Asia. He is also a documentary filmmaker and Artistic Director of the Origins creative youth network.