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24Бюллетень науки и практики /Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
https ://www.bulletennauki.ru https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90
UDC 159 922 4: 930 https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90/83
KYRGYZ MENTALITY - PAST AND TODAY,
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE FORMATION OF THE HUMAN BEING CONCEPT
©Turgunova G., ORCID: 0000-0002-1087-142X, Ph.D., International University of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, turgunova7@mail.ru
КИРГИЗСКИЙ МЕНТАЛИТЕТ - ПРОШЛОЕ И НАСТОЯЩЕЕ, ЕГО ВЛИЯНИЕ К ФОРМИРОВАНИЮ КОНЦЕПТА «ЧЕЛОВЕК»
©Тургунова Г., ORCID: 0000-0002-1087-142X, канд. филол. наук, Международный университет Киргизстана, г. Бишкек, Кыргызстан, turgunova7@mail.ru
Abstract. Research relevance: Mentality is one of the priority criteria for the formation of a person, as it is capable of realizing a full-fledged image of a person, because it reveals the importance of a person's nature and increases his confidence. Objectives of the study : to analyze the mentality of the Kyrgyz people on the basis of past and present life practices, to find the valuable qualities of the people that distinguish them for successful development and promotion among the world community. Materials and methods of research: the article is based on a chronological and synchronous analysis of the mentality of the Kyrgyz people. Results of the study: Mentality as a broad concept reflects people's consciousness, intellect and spiritual wealth. Such folk spiritual treasures do not just arise, they are formed on the basis of rich experience that has passed from century to century, grew and developed day by day, and reached the modern era of civilization. Conclusions: The mentality is based on value criteria, therefore, it is important to establish the value system of society as a whole, especially this generation.
Аннотация. Актуальность исследования: менталитет является одним из приоритетных критериев формирования личности, так как способен реализовать полноценный образ человека, поскольку раскрывает важность и изобилие натуры человека, повышает его уверенность в себе. Цели исследования: анализировать менталитет киргизского народа на основе прошлых и настоящих практик жизни, найти выделяющие ценные качества народа для успешного развития и продвижении среди мирового сообщества. Наряду с этим выделить необходимые признаки менталитета для формирования концепта «человек». Материалы и методы исследования: статья основана на хронологическом и синхронном анализе менталитета киргизского народа. Результаты исследования: Менталитет как широкое понятие отражает сознание людей, интеллект и духовное богатство. Такие народные духовные сокровища не просто возникают, они формируются на основе богатого опыта, прошедшего из века в век, день ото дня росли и развивались, и дошли до современной эпохи цивилизации. Вывод: менталитет основывается на ценностных критериях, поэтому актуально установление системы ценностей общества в целом, особенно этого поколения.
Keywords: mentality, intellect, culture, people, traditions, human being, Kyrgyz, tribe, develop, concept.
Ключевые слова: менталитет, интелект, культура, люди, традиция, человек, киргиз, племя, развивать, концепт.
Бюллетень науки и практики /Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
https ://www.bulletennauki.ru https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90
In modern humanities, the relatively new concept of 'mentality' is often used. Mentality facilitates to realize the full image of a person, reveals importance and increases faith in his nature. The range of issues related to this concept is wide, as each of the fields of humanitarian education characterizes this phenomenon in its own way. The concept of 'mentality' has a wide theoretical meaning and remains relevant in philosophy. First, despite the stability of the situation, it raises issues of national identity and culture, which are always relevant and modern. The need to determine the essence, structure, characteristics and factors of the formation of the national mentality makes it necessary to turn to the deep foundations of being a person in culture.
The etymology of the concept of 'mentality' is taken from the Latin word 'mens, mentalis', and its meaning is translated into Kyrgyz as "mind, thinking, image of thinking, unity of mind and thought, mental system".
In his article "Mentality of Kyrgyz": history and modernity T. Koichuev generalized the several etymological descriptions of the term 'mentality': "In the English-Russian philosophical dictionary mentality means intelligence; in the French-Russian socio - political dictionary mentality is a way of thinking; in the French-Russian dictionary - the direction of thoughts, the structure of the mind, the direction of the mind; mind, mental ability, mental development, mental level, mental system, thinking; in the big German-Russian dictionary mentalitat is given as a mental system, a way of thinking" [1].
The term 'mentality' firstly mentioned in R. Emerson work [2], but the concept of 'mentality' received its fruitful and multifaceted development from French-language humanism. M. Proust noted the novelty of this term and was the first to include it in the dictionary as a 'neologism' [3].
In recent times, there was talking more and more about the mentality of people with the understanding of the determining role of spiritual processes in social development. How can this concept be understood and what does it mean? Or is it a special feature or a set of features that characterize the special abilities of people? What are they related to? Genetically, is the nature of a people determined by historical and cultural traditions, or is it determined by the conditions and environments necessary for life, or does it bear the imprint of social structure, religion, and worldview?
The issue of mentality is considered one of the most pressing topics in public discussions. It reflected a number of studies conducted in various fields of humanitarian education: philosophy, sociology, history, linguistics, psychology, artistic culture and others. In modern theory, three most important methods of mentality can be identified:
Mentality as a mental phenomenon (mental life of a person) appeared in the Western tradition at the end of the 19th century. Z. Freud and K. G. Jung most fully expressed in the works about this. Based on this, mentality is characterized as a mental state of a person, a unique combination of rational, emotional and intuitive experience in a person's spiritual life, an internal synthesis of conscious and unconscious relationships of the human psyche [4].
Mentality as a philosophical phenomenon. This method is based on modern philosophy and raises the issue of mentality related to the experience of a person's spiritual life, shows the internal synthesis of conscious and unconscious relations to the human psyche.
From the point of view of philosophy, it is a phenomenon of the essence and structure of the relationship between individual and social consciousness, the mechanisms and content of cognitive processes, the features of human worldview, and the nature of behavior stereotypes. Mentality determines the nature of long-term behavior and thoughts of people who are members of a particular community. It contains basic concepts about the human being, his place in nature and society, and the structure of the universe.
Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
https ://www.bulletennauki.ru https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90
Verchenko E. P. researching typological analysis of mentality of citizens of Russia and USA in the sphere of business communication pointed out that "mentality is a kind of people's memory of the past, a psychological determinant of the behavior of millions of people. The basis of formation and development of mentality is ethnos: the mentality of ethnos is formed in the course of long-term historical development. It determines the national character and national model of social behavior "
[5].
If we talk about the mentality of the Kyrgyz people, then we should not turn to the past history, because there is no nation without history and culture is created and lives together with the history of that nation. In the article "Ustukany or sandwich' Doctor of philosophy Yildyz Urmanbetova wrote: "Since ancient times, the Kyrgyz people, being nomadic people, defined their livelihood and lifestyle in the tribal context, which was certainly a positive phenomenon in the geographical, economic, socio-cultural living conditions of that time. In the Kyrgyz people, at first, the appearance of tribalism arose in relation to objective circumstances, had a positive effect on the process of preserving invariant models of culture and lifestyle, and over time became a closed form of self-determination" (https://kgcode.akipress.org/unews/).
Of course, this was the most necessary national cultural characteristic of that time, because in order to save themselves, Kyrgyz people are divided into tribes and lived in protection from each other. This tribal mentality has survived to this day, especially after Kyrgyzstan gained its sovereignty, it is highly developed.
If we talk about the Kyrgyz mentality, first of all we can emphasize the tribal kinship mentality that we mentioned above, and the mentality of compatriotism (tribolism) that was added to it later. This has gained a lot of power among the Kyrgyz, because its goal is becoming more and more politicized. Historical, political and economic changes that have been taking place since the sovereign period have forced people to submit to tribalism. Evidently, the main reason for this is to improve the quality of life, to get some benefit, to get help in times of need, etc. Another thing to note is that the peoples of these regions are different from each other. For example, the Kyrgyz are divided into two large regions: northern (Arkalyk) and southern (Oshtik). Of course, this is not just related to the geographical location, but in fact, it is related to the presence of two different mentalities, which means that they differ in their feelings and perception of the world.
We can take the quality of tribal kinship that belongs to Kyrgyz in general. In this case, the person of that tribe became the face of the whole tribe. If a good person came out of that tribe, they were proud, and if a bad person came out, they were embarrassed. As an example, we can take the love story from Ch.Aitmatov's novel "A day lasts more than hundred years" The main character is the well-known poet Raymaaly. He was a very talented poet from a young age and became a proud member of the Barakbay tribe. Later, in his old age, he met a young singer Begimai and fell in love. Their love became famous among the people and not to be liked by the tribal leaders.
Let's take an example from the Chingiz Aitmatov's novel "Kylym karytar bir kyn" (The day lasts more than hundred years):
-Have you heard, Barakbai tribe? Have you heard the words of our poor relative - Raimaly?
- We have heard.
- In this case, listen to my words. First let me tell you, poor Raimaly. All your life, you were a poor man with your only horse, you had lived just only with entertainment, you scratched your dombra, you sang songs at the ash - tois (different parties and events), and you were a laughing stock. You spent your whole life on the jokes of others.... Abilkhan, stand up, look my dear, you with PauMaxbi are relatives born from the same father and mother, and You are our support and our hope. We want to promote you to the position of a bolysh (ruling title) on behalf of the whole
Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
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Barakbay... If you don't want others to laugh at the Barakbai tribe and others don't spit on our face covered with soot, find a way of solution for your poor brother! [6].
In this way, the heads of the people (tribe) put the interest of the tribe before human life and punish Raimalya and Begimai, finally their love ended tragically.
Figure. Picture from the movie "Song of love" 1984 Raimaly and Begimai
Of course, such events have often occurred in life, and even now, the damage of this happens to people in some cases. At the same time, there are times when this tribal-kinship mentality has benefited people in many cases. This thing cannot be considered as a complete relic of the old, because in many cases, the qualities of tribal kinship made people feel their duty to their tribe and saved them from doing bad and shameful deeds.
From this example, there are 3 issues related to the concept human being:
1) the concept love is the main motivational sign of the concept "human being";
2) violation of public etiquette, i.e. it is suitable for the Western mentality, but for the Kyrgyz mentality it is completely inappropriate for a girl to show her love to a man;
3) a person is a friend and an enemy to each other, i.e. Raymaaly is punished by his own relative and killed. Here, we can say that the most important moral is treatment of human being to each other like wolves. There is a clear evidence of the evaluative signs of the concept "human being" as people's cruelty and brutality in the given above example.
Let's take the quality of honoring and respecting the elders and honoring the younger ones as the best human quality that belongs to the Kyrgyz people. This mentality has been an ancestral tradition since ancient times. There is no doubt that this phenomenon glorifies the greatness of the Kyrgyz people and is a valuable thing that has been passed down from generation to generation. Aksakals (elderly people) were respected as elders, they sat on the top place and took the honorable meal, and all the people listened to their advices and always followed them. Of course, this is a right thing, because older people had a lot of life experience, adopt a right solution in different situations, so they gave advice to young people.
Another basic mentality of the Kyrgyz people is freedom of speech and the quality to care for
Бюллетень науки и практики /Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
https ://www.bulletennauki.ru https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90
words and give meaning to words. Since ancient times, Kyrgyz people have given meaning to words and respected them. This proves the high level of our speech culture and marks the serious attitude of the Kyrgyz people to speech and wisdom. Smart people, eloquent people have always been respected and highly evaluated. Regardless of any situation, the Kyrgyz people gave importance to words, listened to them and obeyed them. It is not for nothing that the Kyrgyz people have been using the proverb " Bash kesmei bar, til kesmei jok (a head should be cut, but a tongue should not be cut" since ancient times.
As an example, we can take "Great lines from Arstanbek" by Omurzak Kayipov. (https://www.youtube.com/watch). From this episode we see that no matter how much wealth a person has, he is broken by impartial words, obeying the magic power of words and disciplined. What does this mean, it means that Kyrgyz people believe in the right word and value it. A wise man thinks deeply. he Kyrgyz say that the words spoken are the shots fired. This mentality proves that it is the main indicator of the Kyrgyz nation.
The future of the Kyrgyz people will be very broad if everyone understands that the words expressed in this category are philosophical masterpieces. Let's analyze the following lines:
Even if the news about you reach the Sun even if you touch the stars Even if the whole world created by the God will be in your hand You will be a great just only with people You will look like a lonely deer If you step out of the crowd.
(our translation)
The main feature of the concept of human being is that a person succeeds in the life only with a person, he cannot live apart from society. The above example can fully prove this.
Of course, the above and similar aphorisms that we mentioned are relevant to the present time, because freedom of speech must be preserved in the age of democracy. We can proudly say that the Kyrgyz people have been living with the principles of free democracy since ancient times and are still trying to maintain it, but we cannot deny some violations on freedom of speech nowadays.
Another mentality related to Kyrgyz is hospitality. We can talk about the tradition of welcoming a guest and honoring a guest. This applies to almost all Kyrgyz people, because the Kyrgyz people are very hospitable. They treat guests with delicious dishes, rather than eat themselves and see off guests with a great respect.
Due to this, the Kyrgyz people are still widely used in the tradition of slaughtering a sheep and treating the guest with the head of sheep as an ustukan (meat) or slaughtering a horse and offering ucha ( the most delicious part of horse's meat) to the most honored guest. In addition to this, we can talk about the different ash - tois (parties, funeral parties), wedding parties etc. that are very popular nowadays. Kyrgyz used to hold such celebrations in autumn season, because in autumn the gatherings were over, people collected and sold their crops to make money. Also, the cattle became fat from jailoo (mountains) and they were ready to slaughter them and hold feasts. That period was called "ak toonun kardy jarylgan maal" the time of feast. This quality belongs only to Kyrgyz people, only Kyrgyz people try hard to celebrate such anniversaries and use all their capabilities. In fact, the parties, celebrations, gathering of people together round the table show the traditional way of life of the Kyrgyz people and the level of traditional communication culture.
This ancient tradition has undergone many changes during globalization. In many cases, it
Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
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deviates from the traditional level and leads to great extravagance, because such anniversaries are accompanied by unnecessary activities. For example, we can say about parade of expensive cars used in weddings, expensive "love stories" , various shows, etc. Of course, such phenomenon meets the requirements of time, but there are some cases when people who has no financial possibility meet some troubles.
This quality means carelessness, the quality of turning a blind eye to everything that happens, it is usually used in order to solve any problem calmly, but it brings to some violations of the law. For example, according to the mentality of kyrgyzchylyk people sometimes support the custom of "Kyz ala kachuu" (kidnapping the bride).
Another basic mentality is inquirying jeti ata (7 fathers - ancestors). Seven ancestors are a national symbol for the Kyrgyz people. Kyrgyz sons should know their seven ancestors. It is obligatory for everyone. If we take the root of this custom, we should go back to the early history of Kyrgyz people. Before Kyrgyz people were nomad and lived in mountains, of course there were different situations and military conditions where any person could be lost, so if he/she knows his/her ancestors he/she could find his clan and tribe. Due to the strong tribalism in the Kyrgyz people, they did not often accept other tribes, and even did not accept the children of their married daughters as nephews. Knowing the seven fathers (ancestors) was also a concern to preserve the purity of this nation, because in the matter of marriage, the seven fathers of the girl were asked and investigated whether they were of pure blood or not, whether their seed was from a noble place or the offspring of a slave.
Jety ata is a genealogical concept related to the knowledge of ancestry among Kyrgyz people. Acceptance of seven fathers as a folk genealogical concept is connected with the patriarchal-nomadic tradition. Jety ata played an important social role in Kyrgyz society. According to tradition, every person in Kyrgyz society should know his seven ancestors. People who did not know seven ancestors were accepted as slaves. A Russian man who came to Kyrgyzstan at the end of the 19th century wrote: "In order to learn something about a stranger, they ask: 'Who were your seven fathers?' Every Kyrgyz child can answer this question very clearly.The Kyrgyz moral code teaches: "Who does not know his seven fathers is a fool". The seven fathers are called by the following terms and are deeply embedded in people's consciousness: 1) ata, 2) chong ata , 3) baba, 4) buba, 5) kubaar, 6) joto, 7) gete.
The tradition of consecrating the seven ancestors brings out marriage relationships within the tribe, preserving the genealogical purity of the people and biol. created favorable conditions for population growth and development. That's why in Kyrgyz proverbs like "akkan aryktan suu agat (water flows from a flowing ditch - denot.meaning) ", "Enesin koryp kyzyn al, eshigin koryp toryno ot (firstly see the mother, before to marriage a girl, look at the threshold before entering the house. denot. meaning) ", "kul kuturup takka chykpait" - a slave does not sit on the throne - denot. mean.) have not lost their relevance to these days.
If we take the national mentality as the thinking and intellect of the nation, then we can consider the nation as a social object. Intelligence as a broad concept reflects people's consciousness, intellect and spiritual wealth. Such folk spiritual treasures do not just appear, they are formed on the basis of rich experience passed from century to century, and have grown and developed day by day, and have reached the modern era of civilization.
By intelligence, we mean real pure thought, intelligence, strong culture, educational tradition, acquired science and knowledge. Intelligence is one of the main component of the concept "human being" And the signs that describe them to be considered as microconcepts: 1) pure thought -feeling, 2) intelligence, 3) strong culture, 4) educational tradition, 5) received knowledge.
Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice Т. 9. №5. 2023
https ://www.bulletennauki.ru https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90
All these things come together to encourage people to have high morals, to be ready for marriage, and to live in harmony with the environment and other people. The level of intelligence can be relatively different in different societies.
The mentality is based on the criteria of values, therefore it is relevant to establish the value system of the society as a whole, especially of this generation.
In this context, it is necessary to understand that knowing the characteristics of Kyrgyz culture allows not to lose ourselves in historical reality and endless transit period. However, it is reasonable to remember that we are currently living in an era of globalization, and at the same time, realizing that the absolute value of universal human values can lead to universal dehumanization, it would be pointless to deny it or deny oneself.
At this point, the question arises as to how to maintain the balance. We think that the most correct answer is absolutely of course.
At present, it would be safe to say that the Kyrgyz mentality is divided into three types.
The first type is those who support the old traditional way of life, they are a part of our society that tries to preserve the original idea of tradition passed down from our ancestors. These mostly include people who live in rural areas, previous generations, people who love the country, keep real national customs and traditions coming from old generations (ancestors). They are not representatives of tengrianism, they are real Kyrgyz.
The second type is the people who prefer western customs and traditions. Who are these? This type includes part of the society who try to live as European people or imitates like them. Such kind of people have the western style of dressing, the culture of speech, the celebration of various anniversaries, completely imitating the West. The bad side of such type of people is that they try to cancel the Kyrgyz national traditions and customs. Most of the time, it involves real townspeople and a part of the population with low spiritual levels, who want to pretend to be the elite (in reality, they are from the countryside).
The third group includes people in the field of religion. According to the trend of the present time, the Muslim religion is spreading widely, because of this, the majority of the population lives according to the Shariat and has completely adopted the Arab lifestyle, clothing culture, and speech culture. They also often try to reject traditional culture, because the representatives of this group see many Kyrgyz traditions as blasphemy.
What can we conclude from this? In fact, we should use it in the right direction without forgetting the tradition of Kyrgyz, that have existed since ancient times. We believe that our customs and traditions lasting for centuries, that have kept people as human beings, bear the various trials of life with dignity, improve the noble thoughts of humanity, which hold the universe and are the pillar, and keep giving the right direction to the future generation.
We believe that our customs and traditions lasting for centuries, that have kept people as real human beings, bear the various trials of life with dignity and improve the noble thoughts of humanity. Human being is the main part of our Universe, who is responsible for everything which happens in the world. The traditional culture has supported the new generation and always shows the way to further development.
Of course, in today's era of globalization, holding on the old means going backwards, so it is our duty to keep in mind the current renewal process and move forward with its positive aspects. Therefore, it is necessary not to lose our traditional culture, but to take a step forward with the benefits of renewal. In other words, it would be better if we did not deny the useful part of Kyrgyz traditional culture which has lasted for centuries, on the contrary, we should renew it and improved.
Бюллетень науки и практики /Bulletin of Science and Practice https ://www.bulletennauki.ru
Т. 9. №5. 2023 https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90
Referenes:
1. Koichuev, T. (2007). Izbrannye sochineniya.3. Bishkek. (in Kyrgyz).
2. Waldo, E. R., & Don, M. (1856). English Traits.
3. Random House. (1999). Random house webster's unabridged dictionary.
4. Falzeder, E. (2012). Freud and Jung, Freudians and Jungians. Jung Journal, 6(3), 24-43.
5. Verchenko, E. P. (2006). Tipologicheskii analiz mentaliteta grazhdan Rotsii i SShA v sfere delovogo obshcheniya (filosovsko - kul'turnyi aspekt): Aftoref. Diss. ... kand. filos. nauk. Moscow. (in Russian).
6. Aitmatov, Ch. (2018). Chygarmalarynyn na tomduk zhynagy, Bishkek. (in Kyrgyz).
Список литературы:
1. Койчуев Т. Избранные сочинения. Т. 3. Б.: Экономика за реформы, 2007. 301 с.
2. Waldo E. R., Don M. Q. English Traits. 1856.
3. Random House. Random house webster's unabridged dictionary. 1999.
4. Falzeder E. Freud and Jung, Freudians and Jungians // Jung Journal. 2012. V. 6. №3. P. 2443.
5. Верченко Е. П. Типологический анализ менталитета граждан Роции и США в сфере делового общения (филосовско - культурный аспект): Афтореф. Дисс. ... канд. филос. наук. М., 2006.
6. Айтматов Ч. Чыгармаларынын на томдук жынагы, Бишкек: Улуу Тоо, 2018.
Работа поступила в редакцию 07.04.2023 г.
Принята к публикации 15.04.2023 г.
Ссылка для цитирования:
Turgunova G. Kyrgyz Mentality - Past and Today, Its Influence on the Formation of the Human Being Concept // Бюллетень науки и практики. 2023. Т. 9. №5. С. 609-616. https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90/83
Cite as (APA):
Turgunova, G. (2023). Kyrgyz Mentality - Past and Today, Its Influence on the Formation of the Human Being Concept. Bulletin of Science and Practice, 9(5), 609-616. https://doi.org/10.33619/2414-2948/90/83
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