The Influence and Contribution of the Novel Tungalag Tamir to Inner Mongolian Literature

Abstract

The famous writer from the Mongolian People’s Republic Lodoidamba Ch. fi nished his novel Tungalag Tamir in 1971 and soon received a  government award. The novel accurately depicted the early 1930s  and actual situation, social conditions, relations with authorities and  even the outer world of the Mongols who lived by the river called  Tungalag Tamir. He begins the novel with the words: “One day in  early summer which is …”. This suggests that the narration starts  from 1914. In the end he writes: “In the autumn of 1932 …”. Thus,  those are experiences of this period that were described in the novel. The composition was affected by the theory of Socialist reality, so  the writing techniques make its characters look realistic enough. The novel Tungalag Tamir can be divided into several parts depending on  time periods. From 1914 through 1921, the Mongolian people were under the reign of the diverse political and military alliances, namely  the ‘black’ ones, ‘yellow’ feudal ones and those fi ghting for  democratic values. Between 1921 and 1932, the Mongolian people  chose to become independent from capitalists and established a  Socialist society. The writer describes the historical events and  creates approximately 130 characters — with defi nite distinguishing  features — which are independent personalities with their own  destinies; the proof of this can be found in the end of the very novel: “The images, thoughts and even destinies of the three generations were unfolded before the reader’s eyes”. During the lifetime of the first generation, people suffer from social bondages and rely on  Buddhism, they completely — and even irrationally — trust in  religion. They are convinced regarding their miserable fates and take sufferings for granted. Those characters include Doljin, Hishigt,  Nym, Galsan and others. Characters of the second generation see  their fight as a duty rather than retribution of an evil for evil,  perceive work as a means to attain happiness rather than a torment and are awaken from the old heresy and search for a totally new  way to live the life they long for; those are Janjin, Cuhbaatar and  Erdene, Xvyg, Dorj, Dolmaa, etc. The third generation is represented by those who inherited the revolutionary missions from their fathers  and advocate the methods of science that can and shall change the  old and laggard life of the community. Those are Bat, Jargal,  Colongo, etc. In view of the aforesaid, due to the novel we have an  opportunity to witness the experiences of those harsh times — the fight of the Mongolian people against the feudal forces – and  appreciate the infl uence of the October Revolution on the new destiny of Mongols. In terms of cultural exchange, the novel Tungalag Tamir had a signifi cant infl uence not only on the Inner  Mongolian people and literature but also on the ethnic Chinese of  Inner Mongolia. And the two editions (i. e. both Mongolian and  Chinese ones) of the novel contributed a lot to cultural  communication between Chinese and Mongolian individuals. In those days, the novel Tungalag Tamir revealed the Mongolian society, Mongolian traditional life style, even the very nomadic culture to all its numerous readers.