Images of Mountains in the Song Culture of the Tuvans
Образы гор в песенной культуре тувинцев
Mainy S.B. Zeinebekova M. Shaimerdenova M.D.
2 March 2026Ch. K. Lamazhaa
New Research of Tuva
2026Issue 160 - 82 pp.
The article presents the analysis of the image of mountains in the song tradition of the Tuvans and their transformations into different historical periods (from the early 20th century to the present day). The images of mountains (dag) are examined in folk songs, as well as in Tuvan authorial songs of the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The sources for the study are song texts in Tuvan and Russian taken from collections published in different years. In folk songs, the images of mountains are concrete and emotionally charged. They are the native places where a person lives and are represented as providers, guardians and protectors. Mountains are praised as a symbol of strength, steadfastness and immobility. At this stage, external characteristics of the mountains are also foregrounded, such as their height, steepness, beauty, and so forth. In Soviet authorial songs of the Tuvans, the lyrical singer and their tremulous attitude toward native places and mountains are almost absent. Mountains are viewed as a natural phenomenon that a person must conquer and subjugate to their will to become happy and successful. The motifs of mountains as providers, mountains as symbols of strength and immobility, the emotional bond between mountain and person, the conquest of the mountain as a goal, and the external characteristics of the mountain are all present. In songs of the post-Soviet period, the motifs of conquering mountains disappear, but plots of unity and kinship between people (father-mountain, mother-mountain, son and daughter of the mountain, children of the mountains) and the mountain re-emerge. Mountains are praised as the ancestors of the Tuvans; the sacred status of the mountains is once again acknowledged, together with motifs of nostalgia and “singing mountains”, and so on. Emphasis is placed on the special sacredness of mountains, and obligatory rules of conduct on sacred mountains are celebrated. Mountains are depicted as places of acquaintance and first meetings of young lovers, as well as venues for various reunions of former classmates. Mountains are distinguished by their local peculiarities, picturesque landscapes, rich mineral resources, rare wild animals and even climatic conditions. Nostalgic moods and memories of mountain landscapes and of the mountains themselves are vividly extolled. The songs also contain episodes featuring images of “singing mountains” that perform the unique Tuvan throat singing. In authorial songs of the post-Soviet period, there are texts that depict an emotional bond between the person and the mountain. Copyright (c) 2026 New Research of Tuva (edition). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dag , mountain , song culture , Tuvan folk songs , Tuvans , yrylar
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Laboratory of Ethnology and Linguoculturology, Tuvan State University, 9/B, Mongush Sat St., Kyzyl, 667000, Russian Federation
Department of Russian Language and Literature, M. H. Dulaty Taraz Regional University, 5 Abdirazak Yelibayev St., Taraz, 080000, Kazakhstan
Department of “History of Kazakhstan and Social Sciences”, Temirbek Zhurgenоv Kazakh National Academy of Arts, 127 Panfilova St., Almaty, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Ethnology and Linguoculturology
Department of Russian Language and Literature
Department of “History of Kazakhstan and Social Sciences”
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