Jangar: The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads
Russia

Jangar: The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads

by Saglar Bougdaeva

Adventure & Journey Classics Poetry 2023

Summary

For centuries, the Kalmyk people of the Eurasian steppe have preserved Jangar, a magnificent heroic epic celebrating courage, loyalty, and the survival of their nomadic culture. At its centre is Jangar, the legendary ruler of Bumba, a mythical land of abundance and harmony where seventy kingdoms unite under his leadership. Surrounded by extraordinary warriors, Jangar defends his homeland against formidable enemies, monstrous giants, and rival rulers. His companions undertake daring quests, rescue captives, defeat powerful adversaries, and demonstrate remarkable feats of strength and bravery. Blending fantastical adventures with lyrical descriptions of horses, feasts, battles, and the steppe landscape, the epic reflects the ideals and aspirations of the Kalmyk people. Preserved through generations of oral performance by traditional storytellers, Jangar also bears witness to a culture that has endured conquest, displacement, and political repression. Saglar Bougdaeva’s English translation introduces international readers to this remarkable literary heritage, restoring a largely overlooked masterpiece of Eurasian oral literature to the world.

Reviews

Login to leave a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first!

You might also like

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
John le Carré
The Spy and the Traitor
The Spy and the Traitor
Ben Macintyre
My Dreadful Body
My Dreadful Body
Egana Djabbarova
Birds, Beasts and a World Made New
Birds, Beasts and a World Made New
Velimir Khlebnikov
Country
Russia
Europe
About the author
Saglar Bougdaeva
Saglar Bougdaeva

Saglar (Saga) Bougdaeva is a scholar and translator specialising in Eurasian studies, with a particular interest in the oral traditions and cultural heritage of the nomadic peoples of the Great Eurasian Steppe. Born and raised in the Republic of Kalmykia, a Mongolic-speaking region in southwestern Russia, she grew up connected to the history and traditions of the Kalmyk people. Bougdaeva studied Mongolian, Tibetan, and Mandarin linguistics at Saint Petersburg State University before earning a PhD in Sociology from Yale University. Her interdisciplinary background informs her work on the relationships between language, cultural transmission, and the historical experiences of nomadic societies. Her English translation of Jangar: The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads was published by the University of California Press in 2023. It was the first English translation of this important Kalmyk epic, making an influential oral literary tradition accessible to a wider international audience. The collection presents eleven narrative cycles featuring the legendary hero Jangar and his warriors, preserving the poetic imagination and cultural values of a tradition transmitted across generations. Through her scholarship and translation, Bougdaeva contributes to the preservation and international recognition of the literary heritage of the Eurasian steppe.

View author page
Details
Published
2023
Author
Saglar Bougdaeva