The Messianic Geser: from religious saviour to communism

In the past ten years interest in the study of the history of Buryat literacy and literature during the Soviet period has increased substantially in English language academia. However, a great many avenues are yet to be explored in relation to this field – most notably the history of the Buryat Geser traditions in the twentieth century and their transformation from oral to written epic compositions. In this piece I would like to open up some of the less-explored issues concerning the religious cults and epic traditions surrounding the hero Geser as a messianic saviour figure in Inner Asia, and how these became compatible with communist ideology.