Dzhapua, Zurab D.
Kavkaz Forum. 2022. Issue 9.

Abstract:
The article is devoted to the problem of studying the storyteller - the
performer of the Nart epos. Questions related to the study of the epic singerstoryteller
have always been relevant. In our time, aspects of the narrator’s folklore
knowledge, his skill and memory, aspects of the persistence of the epic tradition
in time, the process of performing the text, the connection of a word with gesture,
facial expressions, intonation, etc. are especially actualized. Unfortunately, the
peculiarities of the personality and creativity of the storyteller were not sufficiently
recorded and are still being disregarded by the collectors of folklore. This, of course,
significantly limits the researcher in the study of the storyteller. The purpose of this
work is to illuminate the life and characteristic features of the folklore repertoire
of two Abkhazian storytellers who perfectly performed Nart legends. The article
was written directly from my observations and notes during the field work in July
1987 and in June 1996 in the village of Mgudzyrkhua in the Gudauta region of the
Republic of Abkhazia. Both storytellers gave me a happy opportunity to record not
only their texts, but also some details of their life and rich folklore repertoire. This
article is based on the field notes and direct communication in a special creative
atmosphere with these storytellers. It turned out that the storytellers Platon Dbar
and Ladia Dzhapschba have a lot in common, but at the same time there are
many differences, including the form and composition of the presentation of the
Nart legends. This experience of my field work with two Abkhazian storytellers,
personal information about them and more, as it seems, is indicative for studying
the skills of other performers of the Caucasian Nart legends.

Keywords: storyteller, text, Nart legends, storyteller’s repertoire, storyteller’s memory, storyteller’s skill, field work

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