The Lone Tree Motif in Kalmyk Lyrics of the 20th – Early 21st Centuries

The image and motif of a lonely tree in Kalmyk lyrics of the 20th – early 21st centuries has not been the object and subject of research. In the folklore of Mongolian- speaking peoples, the image of a tree is endowed with a universal meaning and functions as the World Tree, the tree of life, connecting three worlds in the vertical dimension – Upper, Middle and Lower, in the horizontal dimension – the four cardinal directions, endowed with a sacred status. The cult of a lonely tree (hants modn), refl ecting the cult of a tree (modn), in Kalmyk folklore conveys the mythological and religious views of ancestors, becomes a place of life and immortality, patronage of heavenly powers, the center of knowledge, protection and rebirth, a symbol of fate. The location of a lonely tree is broadcast at a height, in a remote space, often near water bodies. Psychological parallelism articulates the connection between the world of nature and the world of man in confrontation or harmony. In Kalmyk lyrics of the 20th century, the image of a lonely tree, on the one hand, continues the folklore tradition (a symbol of life, native land, people, clan, family, love, wisdom), on the other hand, it transforms the image and motif of a lonely tree, fi lling it with new symbols and codes. This is the solitude of communication between an individual and a lonely tree, the activation of the dialogic and monologue structure of the text, the diversity of rhetorical fi gures, didacticism, parables, urban landscape, the opposition of diff erent types of trees, autobiographism with toponyms of native places, the dynamics of the growth of a lonely tree, the motif of personal memory with an appeal to the reader. As in folklore, so in Kalmyk lyrics, a lonely tree remains either nameless, but with a constant epithet-defi nition (lonely tree), or is concretized (pine, oak, birch, poplar, vine). The description of the tree is characterized by its height, spreading crown, presence of leaves, sometimes fl owers and fruits, location far from roads, populated areas, near rivers, streams, on a mountain, on a rock or, on the contrary, in the city, under a window. The age of the tree varies – from young to old. The tree is shown at diff erent times of the year, day, often in confrontation with the elements of nature. The title of the poems usually contains the epithet of a lonely tree with the leitmotif of loneliness in nature, defenselessness or, conversely, resistance, victory. For modern Kalmyk lyrics, attention to this topic is not typical in comparison with its predecessors. In a comparative-contrastive plan, an appeal to Mongolian lyrics of the last century with the motif of a lonely tree revealed related parallels and symbols. Russian translations of poems by Kalmyk poets do not always correspond to the author’s intention.