Abstract
“Essays on Modern Tuvan Culture” by Ch.K. Lamazhaa, Doctor of Philosophy, Head of the Laboratory of Ethnology and Linguoculturology of Tuva State University ( Kyzyl city), Editor-in-Chief of the journal “New Studies of Tuva” (Moscow) provides the analysis of modern Tuvan culture as a kind of symbiosis, representing mutual influence and coexistence of “relics of centuries-old history, transformational consequences of the twentieth century with the Soviet heritage, as well as the ethnic explanations of the late twentieth century revivalist pathos and trends of globalisation and westernisation (Lamazhaa, 2021: 4-5).The book contains an introduction, 9 essays, conclusion, bibliography and summary in English. The most important material on the socio-cultural life of the modern Tuva is presented in the essays, which together solve two main tasks: 1) the author’s understanding of modern social and cultural processes of Tuvan society in a historical context; 2) the author’s reflections on the trends in the development of Tuvan studies.Ch.K. Lamazhaa’s perspective on these two issues is worth considering, because of her personal involvement with at least two cultural models of the world (Tuvan and Russian). The inside and outside perspectives on the object and subject of the research undoubtedly led to the widening of the research horizon. The author analyzes the issues of interest with a more stereoscopic view than a foreign researcher (outsider) living outside Tuva or a Tuvan researcher living in his own republic (insider) would. This heuristic position enabled the author to create a picture of modern Tuvan culture that is relevant to today’s reality.