Some Short Stories from Mongolia

#300
Title: Some Short Stories from Mongolia
Compiler: Ts. Bold
Editor: D. Natsagdorj
Publisher: State Publishing House, Ulan-Bator
Year: 1988
Country: Mongolia
192 pages

Published after the start of the collapse of the Soviet Union, but before Mongolia's Democratic Revolution, this collection serves as a reminder of just how awful nationalistic fiction can be. The look and hand-feel of this Soviet-era volume gives me flashbacks to 10th-grade Russian class, where my dictionaries (Russian-Spanish, Spanish-Russian, and trusty Anglo-Russki Slovar, all purchased from a second-hand bookshop in Washington, D.C.) were printed on the same rough, thin, grey paper with what appears to be hot type. Despite having no illustrations, the book lists an illustrator, as well as the compiler, editor, artistic director, technical director, and corrector. The State Publishing House of Ulan-Bator apparently was not immune to bloated bureaucracies. The skill of the translators, and proofreaders, varies wildly across stories, often causing unintended hilarity.

These technical details aside, the stories in this collection are unified by their themes, structures, and styles. First, the theme of the pastoral Mongolian countryside, which is highly romanticized. Second, the theme of the heroic Mongol soldiers and workers, alongside their Soviet military friends, striding arm in arm to spread communist propaganda (in stories set before the Soviet), fight Soviet wars (if during the Soviet), and, in either case, die heroically for their ideals. Structurally, many of the stories use a framing narrative, along the lines of <<And then, as I dried my boots, I asked the old grandma to tell me how the mountain got its name.>> Like a roach motel, the story gets into this frame, but usually can't get back out. Stylistically, these stories are flat and at times their emotional intent cannot be discerned.

I did learn a great deal about the basic settings and props for writing a Mongolian story of this era: A girl with braids (who is compared to a blade of grass or other natural phenomenon); a ger (yurt), sometimes placed mysteriously in the landscape; fermented milk; an old person; a truck; a cooperative farm, worker's collective, or documentation of same; and sometimes a legend. Assert heroic and noble sentiments toward the state (told, not shown). Run the manuscript through Babelfish a few times, and you will approximate this earnest yet dated collection.