Kairat Zhanabayev1, Karakat Nagymzhanova2, Nursulu Shaimerdenova3, Ayzhan Turgenbaeva4 & Nazerke Tleubayeva1
1Department of Publishing, Editing and Design Arts, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan. Email: zhanabayev@nuos.pro
2Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Turan-Astana University, Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan
3Department of Russian and Foreign Literature, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
4Department of Religious Studies and Cultural Studies, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.25
First published: June 26, 2022 | Area: Aesthetic Studies | License: CC BY-NC 4.0
(This article is published under Volume 14, Number 2, 2022)
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Abstract
The article reveals the importance of studying the formulaic style in the oral epic culture of Kazakh (Turkic) zhyrau of the 15-18th centuries. The purpose of the article is to identify the specificity of the formulaic language and the style of the epic tradition of these singers, as well as to show the degree of their knowledge, based on the principles of oral theory by M. Parry and A. Lord and their followers. Zhyrau are singers of the times of the Golden Horde and the foundation of the Kazakh Khanate. In the analysis of the ancient forms of their epic thinking; the genesis of genres, principles of performance and transmission of tradition, formulaic style plays a major role. The method of discourse analysis, system review, referencing, comparative analysis, and the methods of previous researchers were applied in the study. The novelty is that the formulaic style was first studied on the oral material of the zhyrau dated the 15-18th centuries, where stable units are represented by a formula – the basis of the epic style and an important means of the singer’s oral-style technique. The theoretical significance of the article and its relevance, is based on a broad discussion of oral theory, and at the same time on its effectiveness and efficiency in studying the Kazakh (Turkic) epic tradition. The practical value of the research gives its results in the analysis of language and style, the distinction of styles and genres of zhyrau from other bearers of Turkic poetic culture. The Parry-Lord formulaic grammar can be applied both for the study of Turkic languages and to the quality of artistic translation.
Keywords: Parry-Lord’s oral theory, Turk epic, zhyrau, tolgau, oral technique, individual creativity.
Introduction
Within the framework of the present project, the authors have prepared several theoretical works of value for Kazakh (Turkic) epic studies and modern folkloristics. The authors of the paper also consider that the study of the oral tradition of nomads in Central Asia, the North Caucasus and South Siberia is a significant contribution to the science of folklore and mythology of the East since the culture of the Kazakh (Turkic) culture nomads are not only specific and unique as a special type of equestrian-nomadic civilization, but also have deep ties with the richest oral folklore of ancient and medieval Europe, Asia and Africa (Nurgali, 2013; Zhakupov et al., 2020). With a long history of studying the language and style of Kazakh (Turkic) zhyrau from the 15-18th centuries and comparative epic studies, the authors of the article drew attention to the high productivity of oral theory, two American researchers – M. Parry (1932) and A.B. Lord (1964). In our country, this theory is presented in detail by the monograph published in 1986 by Harvard University professor A.B. Lord (1964) “The Singer of Tales”. It, as noted in the Introduction, “contains ideas important for the study of epic traditions, including Oriental ones” reference. The authors of the oral theory gave a special role to “the technique of oral performance of the epos” – the source of the formulaic style” the link.
Although traditionality and stereotyping in folklore and epic genres have been mentioned before by American scholars, they have a valuable idea that explains this stereotype (sustainability of forms) not only as a feature of traditional style but as a powerful principle of the artists’ creativity. This principle is a formulaic style or formulaic grammar. The effectiveness, efficiency, and perspective of the oral theory are particularly evident in the study of Turkic monuments, whose language is perfectly structured, free from external influences, and characterized by great richness and variety of poetic forms.
Research into the language’s formulaicity and style in recent years has also unexpectedly revealed the fundamental role of formulaic grammar in poetic translation. Especially when it concerns the ancient Kazakh poems, the oral text of the medieval nomadic judge and speaker (Kazakh biy), the ancient runic inscriptions of the VIII centuries of Turkic Haganat, where there is no influence of other languages and religions yet, and therefore of exceptional interest both in terms of their pure form and in their unique content and the prospect of reconstruction of their initial bases – the Turkic archaic myth, rite and ritual (Aimukhambet et al., 2017). Criticism is present in several works on Perry-Lord’s oral theory. It mainly dealt with the problems of nationality and authorship, and the theory of formulaic style. However, it was based, as the translators of “The Singer of Tales” note, on the special author’s terminology, which, in our opinion, should have been different from the existing one, as it is about a living tradition, a living process, that is, oral technique, and not a static grammar and epic. Thus in the classical monograph “Origin of Heroic Epic”, analyzing and criticizing all existing basic theories, the famous scientist E.M. Meletinsky (1963), pointed out that A.B. Lord (1964), who followed his teacher and “derives the epic style from the poetic technique of oral creativity, does not doubt the mythological origin of the contents of epic formulae”. And that’s very revealing because the oldest epic formulas are the ones that lead us to myth, rite, and ritual. And this theory of Lord is most vividly demonstrated by the oral-style poetic technique of nomads of Central Asia, South Siberia, North Caucasus and Crimea…Full-Text PDF