H. Syan-Belgin's poem “Thirty Tall Poplars”: History and modernity
https://doi.org/10.31143/2542-212X-2026-2-204-215
EDN: OARHZC
Abstract
This article examines the poem “Thirty Tall Poplars” (1965) by the People's Poet of Kalmykia, Khasyr Syan-Belgin, which addresses the Civil War in Kalmykia. The relevance and novelty of this study stems from the lack of research on the work. The aim of this article is to explore the historical and functional aspects of this poem, which is associated with the defense of Soviet power in the republic. The objectives include the creative history of the work, its genre, thematic perspective, historical insight, contemporary perspective, the motif of historical memory, poetics, and Russian translation of the poem. This short lyrical poem, consisting of 102 lines, is written in the first person. The poetics of the title connects the historical past with the present: thirty poplars in the city serve as a monument to thirty fallen communists. The motif of historical memory stems from the need to identify the names of all thirty heroes who fell in the struggle for freedom, of whom, according to the poet, only two are known. The author compared them to the 26 Baku commissars who perished during the Civil War in 1918. In the Russian translation, the work was titled “Thirty Tall Poplars”, and its genre in the book publication was designated as a requiem poem.
Supporting agencies: The research was conducted within the framework of the state subsidy project “Universals and specifics of traditions of the Mongolian–speaking peoples through the prism of cross-cultural contacts and the system of relations between Russia, Mongolia and China” (state registration number: 123021300198-4).
About the Author
Rimma M. Khaninova
Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor, Leading Researcher, Head of the Department of Folklore and Literature
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Review
For citations:
Khaninova R.M. H. Syan-Belgin's poem “Thirty Tall Poplars”: History and modernity. Kavkazologiya. 2026;(2). https://doi.org/10.31143/2542-212X-2026-2-204-215. EDN: OARHZC
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