Doolot Sydykov

{{Short description|Contemporary manaschi}}

{{notability|1=Biographies|date=January 2022}}

Doolot Sydykov (born 1983), is a manaschi (a reciter of the Kyrgyz epic of Epic of Manas).

In November 2020, he recited the epic continuously in Ala-Too Square in Bishkek for a record 14 hours and 27 minutes.{{cite web |title=New record: Manaschi recited epic continuously for 14 hours 27 minutes |url=https://24.kg/english/172889_New_record_Manaschi_recited_epic_continuously_for_14_hours_27_minutes/ |website=24.kg |date=13 November 2020}}

In September 2021, he recited the epic for 111 hours over a five day period in Moscow.{{cite web |last1=Калыков |first1=Мундузбек |title=Манасчы Доолот Сыдыков установил рекорд — он читал эпос "Манас" пять суток |url=https://kloop.kg/blog/2021/09/06/manaschy-doolot-sydykov-ustanovil-rekord-on-chital-epos-manas-pyat-sutok/ |website=kloop.kg |language=Russian |date=6 September 2021}}

His earlier attempts to promote the epic included touring across Kyrgyzstan in 2012 performing with Talantaaly Bakchiev,{{cite book |last1=van der Heide |first1=Nienke |title=Spirited performance: the Manas epic and society in Kyrgyzstan |date=2015 |publisher=EHV Academicpress |location=Bremen |page=169}} making audiovisual recordings of his performances depicting the funeral feast for Kokotoi Khan{{cite book |last1=Wintermann |first1=Jutta |title=Die Figur des Almambet im kirgisischen Manas-Epos : eine historisch-kritische Studie |date=2020 |location=Wiesbaden |isbn=978-3-447-11400-4 |page=289}} and episodes from Semetey,{{cite web |title=List of Semetei Episodes and Chanters |url=https://aigine.kg/?page_id=5690&lang=en |website=Aigine Cultural Research Center}} and performing with Solenye Oreshki, a jazz band.{{cite book |last1=Plumtree |first1=James |editor1-last=Thomson |editor1-first=S. C. |title=Medieval Stories and Storytelling: Multimedia and Multi-Temporal Perspectives |date=2021 |publisher=Brepols |location=Turnhout |page=241 |chapter=A Telling Tradition: Preliminary Comments on the Epic of Manas, 1856–2018}}

While popularising the epic, he has also spoken out against the commercialization of the epic (such as branding alcohol with the names of the epic's heroes).{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Bruley |first=Julien |date=2019 |title=L'épopée de Manas: étude historique, patrimoniale et ethnographique |pages=280–281 |publisher=Université de Lille}}

Transcriptions of three audiovisual recordings,{{cite book |last1=AKYN изилдөө тобу |title=«Манастын төрөлүшү» эпизоду түрдүү варианттарда |date=2024 |publisher=Ордо |location=Бишкек |isbn=978-9967-9509-8-6 |url=https://dspace.auca.kg/bitstream/123456789/2791/1/«Манастын%20торолушу»%20турдуу%20варианттарда.pdf}} made at the American University of Central Asia, narrating the birth of the titular character, Manas, available online,{{cite web |title=American University of Central Asia - AUCA - Doolot Sydykov |url=https://auca.kg/en/research_faculty_akyn_transcriptions_sydykov/ |website=auca.kg |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Episodes from the 'Manas' Epos |url=https://catalog.osaarchivum.org/catalog/O8pZgyZa |website=OSA Archivum}} have been studied to reveal his in-performance composition methods.{{cite journal |last1=Plumtree |first1=James |last2=Jeenbekova |first2=Alymkan |title=Replicating the Birth of Manas: Composition Methods of Doolot Sydykov and Talantaaly Bakchiev |journal=Известия Национальной академии наук Кыргызской Республики |date=January 2020 |issue=3 |pages=175–187 |url=https://www.academia.edu/44585493}}

In 2022, he left Kyrgyzstan owing to a political dispute regarding the Manas Ayyly (Museum).{{clarify|date=November 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Алмас |first1=Мирайым |title=Манасчы Доолот Сыдыков вместе с семьей покинул страну после споров о «Манас айылы» |url=https://kloop.kg/blog/2022/05/05/manaschy-doolot-sydykov-vmeste-s-semej-pokinul-stranu-posle-sporov-o-manas-ajyly/ |work=KLOOP.KG - Новости Кыргызстана |date=5 May 2022 |language=ru-RU}}