Belarusian folklore in the works of Adam Kirkor: features of representation and interpretation

The diverse forms and methods of folkloric usage in national narratives reflected in academic discourse highlight the need to explore this issue within the context of the development of Belarusian identity. This article focuses on Adam Kirkor, a significant personality in the history of 19th-century Belarusian culture and one of the founders of Belarusian folklore studies. The peculiarities of A. Kirkor’s worldview are considered in the context of the cultural and ideological processes of the 19th century, examples of his self-identification as a «Litvin» and «Belarusian» are revealed, the correlation of these concepts is clarified, and the evolution of the author’s ideas about the significance of Belarus is shown. The features of the representation and interpretation of Belarusian folklore are analyzed using the example of A. Kirkor’s works published in 1839–1858. This period is characterized as a stage of collecting factual material, its scientific comprehension, and popularization. The dependence of the text of A. Kirkor’s first student work “Remnants of Pagan Customs in Belarus” on M. Charnovskaya’s article is shown, revealing aspects of how the author reworked borrowed materials based on his firsthand knowledge of the folk traditions of his native land. The documentation and biographical traits in his descriptions of folklore phenomena are noted. In the works of the 1850s, the awareness of the consolidating function of folklore is traced. During this period, A. Kirkor masters the essay genre, within which he uses the travel plot to demonstrate the uniqueness and promote the regional traditions of Vilnius. His narrative combines elements of both creative and research approaches, presenting factual material in the form of folk tales that express popular perceptions of the region’s past. The circumstances and pecularities of the representation and interpretation of Belarusian folklore as a distinct ethno-cultural tradition are examined through Kirkor’s article “An Ethnographic Perspective on the Vilnius Province”, which was carried out in accordance with the program of the Russian Geographical Society. In this work, the requirement to compare with Lithuanians prompted the author to expand beyond the stated boundaries of the province and summarize the existing know- ledge about Belarusian folk culture. The characteristics provided by Kirkor reflect the extensive geographical spread of Belarusian folklore and are aimed at recognizing its value. The issue of the reasons for A. Kirkor’s borrowing of folklore materials from other authors’ publications is considered separately. This example illustrates the general interest of representatives of Belarusian folkloristics in spreading knowledge about folk culture and the significance of this solidarity for scaling the understanding of Belarusian identity.