Folklore Heritage of the Southern Udmurts in the Songwriting of Raisa Kuzminichna Shakhtina

The article examines the role of an individual in the preservation and actualization of traditional culture using the example of one of the brightest and most charismatic personalities of the Southern Udmurt tradition ­– Shakhtina Raisa Kuzminichna. Ethnographic, philological and ethnomusicological approaches were used to solve this problem. To understand the creative process, the article presents the biography of the performer, as well as analyzes the processes that contribute to songwriting. The material for the study was the expedition materials of the Scientific Archive of the Udmurt Institute of History, Language and Literature of the UdmFRC Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as personal field materials of Nikolaeva Polina, a student of the Republican College of Music, registered during 2022–2023. The analysis of the singer’s original songs showed a variety of genres. They reflect both traditional and personal, modern aspects of life. Many of the songs are associated with rituals and holidays, which are an integral part of the cultural life of the village of Kuzebaevo in the Alnashsky district of the Udmurt Republic. An important marker of this local tradition is the performing practice, which is most clearly manifested in the work of R. K. Shakhtina, characterized by a high degree of skill and emotional expressiveness. It can be stated with confidence that Raisa Kuzminichna Shakhtina preserves and develops the song heritage of the southern Udmurts.