CC BY
13PHILOSOPHY
EPIC AS A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
Master of cultural studies Sirazhiden D. A.
Kazakhstan, Astana Eurasian National University after L.N.Gumilyov, Faculty of Philosophy
Abstract. This article discusses present national peculiarities, genre properties, plots of Kazakh epics and the results of research on their opportunities. Newest guidelines had been provided for the future researchers. The article helps identify the traditional mentality, mindset, national thinking system of the Kazakh nation, typical peculiarities of epics and the paths of their development. Furthermore, the article covers views on the collecting, publishing, studying the spiritual and artistic heritage of our nation; unveil and popularize its cognitive, moral and aesthetic property; analyze and evaluate the works ofpoets, writers and singers of epics, continue their fair tradition; as well as views on the Kazakh folkloristics. The article dedicated to the epics focuses on the artistic system and elements of the ancient Kazakh epic poems "Kyz Zhibek", "Kozy korpesh - Bayan sulu" and the tale of "Er Tostik". The article has been written for the students of Social Studies.
Keywords: epic, genre, plot, heroic epic, tale, lyrico-epic, dastan, national idea
Introduction. There are so many nations in the world and as many national peculiarities and traditions. If time excludes the obsolete of the traditions, generated by the innate character and living conditions of each nation, and turns the best ones into a public value, this alone would be helpful for harmonic advancement of the nation along with the flow of humankind history. Epic poem is the genre of folklore that has been born in ancient unremembered time, has developed, improved and survived till the modern days. Hereditary customs, didactic genre - tolgau, aphorism, memorial songs, estirtu (song-announcement of death), farewell song, lyrico-publicistic poem, aitys, historic songs - Kazakh poetic art is extremely abundant, its contents is attractive and its artistic types are complex. As the eternal source of the nation's wisdom - epic songs were born on the basis of the historic and social conditions under which our people lived for thousands of years. They have become a valuable treasure that describes the heroic tradition, national customs, and spiritual power of the nation. The epic songs - being the most complex in the art of declamation - retains the great aura of life and struggle experienced by our nation. During the ages of difficult nomad lifestyle, despite the wars, conquests and steppe murrain our ancestors managed to keep and pass on the main "idea" of these songs from father to son, from mouth to mouth. Speaking about the histry of the epic songs, some scientists differently mention the social structure of ancient nomad tribes, such as saka, massaget, hunnu, wusun, kipchak and gokturks. The Saka worshipped the sun, earth, fire and wind and they had a cult of the hound. They were ruled by women. Matrimony appeared in XI century with the inhabitance of the Hunnu. The tale of Er Tostik tells about this fact [1].
Research findings. The genre of Kazakh epic can be divided into 10 groups [2].
1. Epic tales (Er Tostik, Kula the hunter, Munlyk-Zarlyk)
2. Dating from the era of Turkic Khaganate (Kul Tegin, Orkhon scriptures)
3. Oghuz epics (Korkut)
4. Nogai epics (Er Targin, Forty warriors of Kyrym)
5. Tribal epics (Alpamys, Kobylandy, Kambar)
6. Historical epics (Beket)
7. Lyrical epics (Kyz Zhibek, Kozy korpesh - Bayan sulu)
8. Eastern dastans
9. Authorial epics
10.Kazakh epics
Epics are the indispensable part of the nation's spiritual culture. They illustrate the historic traditions, ideals and worldview principles, spiritual values and aesthetic perception of the nation. Heroic tales and songs command a large part in the Kazakh folklore. The oldest epics are tales. In a tale epic mythology and life are interrelated. Tales of many nations are similar in their plotline structure. The story of the tale is always told by the storyteller. They tell stories about daily lives of people (life tales), fantastic stories (fairy-tales), stories about the relationship between animals and people (animal tales) and interesting adventures of a tale character.
14 № 2(30), Vol.5, February 2018
http://ws-conference.com/
"Literary research is necessary not for the research itself, but for the value of the nation and culture of the generation". Each epic story contains moral, ethic and philosophic idea. They focus not only on the physical powers of the character, but also on his/her mental and emotional abilities. One of the epics studied very deeply is "Kozy Korpesh - Bayan Sulu". There are lots of valuable thoughts and notes about the history, characters, expansion, artistic peculiarities and genre properties of this epic song. However the statement of the era when this epic song originated has not been made yet. When we analyze the nature of the epic songs, we need to take into account the works done by Russian folklorists. For instance, V.Y.Tropp says in his work that heroic epic songs illustrate a certain historic event, cherished dreams of people and their own view on historic facts. Comparative analysis on epic songs help identify their artistic appearance, main idea and story being told.
Among the epic heritage of Kazakh nation the song of Kyz Zhibek still hasn't lost its scientific actuality. Scientists, researcher R.Berdibayev gives his own fair evaluation of the song: "Kyz Zhibek" is one of the valuable songs generated by the wisdom of Kazakh nation. It can be argued that this song is the most perfect version of the art of epic storytelling. Song of Kyz Zhibek is not a myth, it is a historic event with characters who really lived." [3]. The main characters of the song Tolegen and Zhibek truly loved each other. The image of Zhibek is the symbol of beauty, the pride of Kazakh nation, a spiritual monument. Talented poets and singers have sung the song of Kyz Zhibek as a wonderful romantic epoch, thanks to whom it reached our days. Not only it reached our time, but also became an inalienable part of our modern culture.
The role of singers in the development of epic songs is special. Songs performed by poets and singers are warmly accepted by the demanding and fastidious audience. It is doubtless that continuing to study those epics is highly important. It is crucial to keep and develop that invaluable treasure inherited from such great persons as Zhambyl, Nurpeis and Muryn Zhyrau. That needs knowledge, experience and skills. There is a great opportunity nowadays to collect the examples of our cultural heritage, study them and use them by adapting them to our modern days. It is necessary to save that precious value that demonstrates the life, struggle and dreams of the nation and make it useful for the coming generations. Any epic of any nation has several versions. When we revise the idea, contents, plot and image of all versions of Kazakh epics, their texts don't always correspond [4]. Nevertheless, the subject of people's view about life and environment is common to all of the epic songs. The works of poets and bards, their performing peculiarities and abilities can be seen from the message, plot, forms and images of the song. Performers of the epic songs have been able to sing with respect to old traditions and also by adding new life ideas relevant to the era. There are many methods for studying our folklore accurately and systematically. If evaluated in accordance with the modern circumstances, Kazakh epic studies are not complete yet. Our epic heritages occupy an indispensable and constituent part of the global folklore. It needs to be considered in the context of national spiritual culture, all-Turkic scale and as a value of the humankind.
Conclusions. Kazakh epic is a valuable heritage originating from ancient times. It is an integral from of the critical eye and wisdom; it is a guide that can bring up today's heroes; it is a spiritual collection, eternal heroic act, national idea of the society. Although the outer appearance and form of the epic changes with the passing of time, it doesn't lose its nature, purpose. Quite the opposite - it is flourishing and improving. Deep research on the spiritual heritage of the Kazakh nation - epic songs and epic traditions, evaluation of the purposes and objectives of the epic now in XXI century helps to identify the main nature of the epic, its language, meaning, artistic idea and message. All of the abovementioned proves that epic is an incomparable phenomenon not only for the present, but also for the future generations.
REFERENCES
1. Berdibay R. Epic - public treasure. // R.Berdibay - Almaty: Rauan, 1995.— 163 p
2. Ybyrayev Sh. World of epic. // Sh. Ybyrayev - Almaty: Gylym, 1979. — 72 p.
3. Auezov M., Sobolev L. Epic and Kazakh folklore.// M. Auezov, L. Sobolev -Literaturnyi kritik, 1939. —35 p.
4. Zhumaliyev K. Matters of Kazakh epic and history of literature.// K. Zhumaliyev -1958. —13 p.
Almaty: Almaty:
http://ws-conference.com/
№ 2(30), Vol.5, February 2018 15
