New Book By Sevyan Vainshtein
Geheimnisvolles Tuwa – Expeditionen in das Herz Asiens
(Mysterious Tuva – Expeditions into the Heart of Asia)

Ralph Leighton announces a new book (with DVD) by Sevyan Vainshtein of interest to readers of German.

Readers of Tuva or Bust! may remember that one of our most important  discoveries was Sevyan Vainshtein’s 1980 book Nomads of Southern  Siberia.  Now, twenty-five years later, is another great work by the same  author, with a DVD (in English and German) that mentions Richard Feynman and his quest to reach Tuva.

The details on the book follow:

Geheimnisvolles Tuwa – Expeditionen in das Herz Asiens
(Mysterious Tuva – Expeditions into the Heart of Asia)
Book in German with DVD
by Sevyan Vainshtein, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Translated from Russian into German.

Book: 264 pp, 2-colour-printing, with map and illustrations of rock engravings
DVD: 72min documentary film about the author and his expeditions, colour photos, examples of Tuvan throat singing.
ISBN 3-924324-11-5
German retail price EUR 39,90.

Available from Alouette Verlag, Uferstrasse 41, 22113 Oststeinbek, Germany
www.alouette-verlag.de (Inquire for shipping costs.)

Here is a translation of the Introduction by ethnographer & publicist Swen Alpers, Göttingen, 2005:

Again a book about shamanism? By no means. This book is much more than merely the new infusion of an old theme. It is a revelation! It introduces the life, the thoughts and feelings of a people almost unknown to us. Tuva, if at all associated with the unusual sound and timbre of the throat singing of its musicians, is until this date – also in German-language ethnography – leading an undeserved shadowy existence. The rich culture of the Tuvans, although suppressed for decades and socialistically levelled, was never entirely wiped out. Since Perestroika, this small people is again allowed to publicly recall its roots and is now hesitatingly trying to walk on its old, overgrown paths – an attempt that will prove to be a thorny one.

Sevyan Vainshtein stands in the tradition of the great Russian explorers such as Semyonov, Prschevalski and Kozlov. As they did, he proves to us that scientific exactness and vividness do by no means have to contradict each other. He undertakes his field research with brain and courage, with heart and soul. He knows that knowledge comes from experience, and grasping from understanding, which is why he doesn’t rush through the landscape in a superficial search for spectacularities. Vainshtein takes his time – for nearly fifty years he explores and documents the nomadic tribes and their environment. His archaeological excavations yield remarkable results; his patience and his empathy in dealing with the visited people bring to light stories, myths and fables thought to have been lost a long time ago. He dips into the essence of lamaism and shamanism, which both are experiencing now a certain revival.

The following text contains an enthralling mixture of travellog and ethnography. The language of the scientist is that of a poet. It brilliantly resounds and owns a sensuality, especially in the tranquil passages, which also the translation (from Russian into German) cannot deprive of its strength. The publishers are utilizing the means of new media and supplement the plasticity of the word with a DVD with irretrievable, partly historical motion pictures, with examples of Tuvan throat singing, and with Tuva photos of today.

The author does not only advance into the heart of Asia but also takes a deep look into the heart of its peoples. This attitude, probably striking several of today’s readers as being of sheer obsoleteness, may result in critical remarks by ethno-statisticians. For the real understanding of a foreign people, for assembling all mosaic pieces to a vivid overall picture it is, however, indispensable. The whole, after all, is more than merely the sum of its parts.