Russian and East European Studies
The Epic of Manas is a heroic epic of the Kyrgyz people. The main content of the epic is the exploits of the hero Manas. It is included in the list of masterpieces of the oral and intangible cultural heritage of mankind, as well as in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest epic in the world. Manas studies is a separate area of research within Kyrgyz studies, which is engaged in the scientific study of Manas. Representatives of this scientific area are called Manasologists. Scientific study of the epic began in the second half of the 19th century by Shokan Valikhanov and Vasily Radlov. Valikhanov wrote down one of the episodes ("Feast for Kökötöy") in 1856 and partially translated it into Russian. In 2014, the monumental work on the 9-volume edition of the Manas epic in the academic edition of Sagymbay Orozbakov's version, which lasted for 20 years, was completed. The edition, published by the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, included 183 thousand lines from the life of the great Kyrgyz hero. Honored Scientist of the Kyrgyz Republic, Manas researcher Samar Musayev worked on the text of the books; prominent Manas scholars Kenesh Kyrbashev, Esenaaly Abdyldaev and Raikul Sarypbekov also worked on the explanations.
