Ethnography of the Kazakh people in Grigorii Potanin's studies

Purpose. In the conditions of accelerated development of modernization processes in Kazakhstan, there is increased interest in the study of Kazakh heritage by historians and ethnographers of the 19th - 20th centuries . The purpose of this work is to identify the main scientific issues in the ethnography of the Kazakhs covered in Grigorii Nikolaevich Potanin’s studies. Scientific works of this outstanding scientist in this respect are particularly relevant. Firstly, the re-searcher was born in one of the fortifications in the Kazakh steppe and had a good command of the Kazakh language as he was familiar with the peculiarities of culture and life of the Kazakh people since his childhood. Secondly, he was a famous ethnographer, a member of the Russian Geographical Society and participated in several scientific expedi-tions on the territory of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China. This article deals with studying the traditional culture of the Kazakh people by the famous ethnographer G. N. Potanin (1835-1920). We analyze the main works of the researcher devoted to the study of the spiritual culture of the Kazakh people. On the basis of our study, we identify that the study of folklore was one of central and most important issues among the various scientific aspects G. N. Potanin raised. Results. G. N. Potanin focused on studying oral folk art of the Kazakh people including genealogical legends. He ana-lyzed the origin of those legends and their similarities with legends of other peoples. The researcher also collected and recorded fairy tales, proverbs, riddles and tongue twisters of the Kazakh people. G. N. Potanin proved the so-called “eastern hypothesis” of the origin and development of the medieval European epic. In our opinion, G. N. Potanin con-centrated on studying oral folk art because it reflects the life of the Kazakh people. The researcher noted a certain in-fluence of Islam and Central Asian culture on the traditional culture of the Kazakh people. He studied ethnic composi-tion, social structure, traditional economy and material culture of the Kazakh people. Conclusion. Thus, the study of Kazakh folklore, including oral and musical creativity, was the main important issue in G. N. Potanin’s research. He made conclusions on the ethnic composition, the traditional system of life support of the Kazakh people. In this small work, we noted only a small range of aspects that are reflected in the work of the great researcher. It is necessary to widen the range of archival materials studied to continue investigating the heritage of this outstanding Russian scientist, a true friend of the Kazakh people.