The sėsėn ( Bashkir:cәсән;

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: cэсэн) is a figure in Bashkir society who acts as an oral repository, equivalent to a narrator or poet, or to a

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

. Sėsėns would learn and transmit their knowledge via

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

. Performances, sometimes improvised, were often accompanied with a

dombra The dombra, also known as dombyra (; ) is a long-necked musical string instrument used by the Kazakhs, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Nogais, Bashkirs, and Tatars in their traditional folk music. The dombra shares certain characteristics with the ko ...

quray The ''quray'' ( Bashkir ҡурай, Tatar quray, ) is a long open end-blown flute with two to seven fingerholes, and is the national instrument of the Bashkirs and Tatars. The instrument is a type of Choor. On March 1, 2018 Kurai was registered ...

, traditional instruments of the Bashkir. The main pieces performed were

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

s, legends, and '' kubair'', a genre of Bashkir oral literature. They played an active role in public life, and were keenly interested in people's lives. The heyday of the ''sėsėn'' was from the 16th to 18th centuries when much of ''kubair'' were composed. The banning of '' iyiyns'', traditional meetings of Bashkirs, in the 19th century deprived ''sėsėns'' of their audience, however ''

aytysh Aitysh ( ; ) is the name for the primarily folk-oriented, oral tradition of improvised singing and oratory between two parties referred to in Kazakh as akyns but found throughout Central Asia. Each akyn, usually sitting close to each other, strums ...

'', traditional competitions between two performers, were widespread. In the 20th century, ''sėsėns'' have largely died out and transitioned to literary works. Before the advent of writing, the ''sėsėns'' were considered guardians of wisdom. Several literary figures have personified that character in the 19th century, such as Salavat Julaev, Chabrau, Akmurza, Erėnsė, Kubaruš and Baik Ajdar.

Ivan Lepyokhin Ivan Ivanovich Lepyokhin (Иван Иванович Лепёхин; , in Saint Petersburg – , in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian people, Russian naturalist, zoologist, botanist and explorer. He began his studies in the Russian Academy of Scien ...

, a Russian

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, described his encounter with a ''sėsėn'': '

References

{{reflist Bashkir culture Storytelling Oral tradition

See also

References