Paper long abstract:

Wishing to examine the in-performance composition methods of oral poets, audiovisual recordings were made of two notable modern-day manaschis, Talantaaly Bakchiev and Doolot Sydykov. To aid comparisons, each performer was recorded on three different occasions performing the same part of the epic: the birth of the titular character, Manas. In addition to revealing the composition methods of the individual performers, analysis of the transcripts illuminated their relationship with printed material. Comparison with versions collected and published in the Soviet period reveals the reusing in performance passages from printed variants questions assumptions about the role of mentors, and a repeated altered phrase originating from an esteemed predecessor suggests the existence of anxiety of influence in oral performance and the difficult legacy of the past. Comparison of a contemporary performer’s in-performance created texts with variants produced by the manaschi for publication likewise reveal another little noticed feature: awareness in an oral tradition of the reader and the printed medium, and consideration of the role and authority of the performer where the patron is the market.