Mongolian and Kalmyk anecdote of the 19th century: specificity and structure

This article introduces the texts of Mongolian and Kalmyk jokes of the 19th century into. Mongolian anecdotes were found in the work of the Hungarian scientist G. Balint “Ethnologische Mitteilung aus Ungarn” (1895) and in G. Timkovsky during his trip to China through Mongolia in 1820 and 1821 (1824). “Kalmyk anecdotes” (“Kalmukische Anekdoten”) were published by B. Bergmann in the second volume of his work “Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmuken in den Jahren 1802 und 1803” (“Nomadic wanderings among the Kalmyks in 1802-1803”). The author examines the specifics and structure of jokes. Mongolian ones have been studied by Sh. Gaadamba, R. BataakhuY, Sh. Tsend-Ayush, Kh. Sampildendev, etc. But the texts of Mongolian jokes of the 19th century, translated into Russian, were not considered by researchers. Kalmyk anecdotes of the 19th century are analyzed for the first time by the author, since these texts exist only in translation into German. The authentic texts themselves, unfortunately, do not exist. Kalmyk folklore has been recorded by many scientists and researchers since the 18th century, but these are mainly fairy tales, songs, riddles, and proverbs. There is no information about the recording of Kalmyk jokes. Kalmyk jokes translated by B. Bergman are the first and only source proving the existence of this speech genre among the steppe people. Based on a small number of texts, it is concluded that the jokes had a three-part structure - a beginning, a climax and an unexpected denouement, and compositionally consisted of three parts - a beginning, a middle and an ending.