‘Danzanravjaa is my hero!’: the transformation of tradition in contemporary Mongolian poetry

Abstract

This is quite possibly the first literary critical paper to be written in English on contemporary Mongolian poetry. As such, it would seem fitting that the title used here repeats the words of the poet Ayurzana. That he, a member of Ulaanbaatar’s young, cool intelligentsia, should see the 19th century poet-monk Danzanravjaa as his hero provides us with a powerful socio-cultural platform from which to observe how these young poets work in a modern idiom while remaining aware of their Mongolian heritage.