Kazakh folk poetry

The oral-poetic tradition was known among the Turkic-speaking tribes already in the VI - VIII centuries . The first surviving examples of ancient Turkic poetry are present in the treatise " Codex Kumanikus ", the works of Yusuf Balasaguni and Mahmud Kashgari , as well as in the Orkhon-Yenisei inscriptions ^[1] .

Kazakh folk poetry in the process of formation evolved from epitaphs to heroic epics, among which stand out “ Er Targyn ”, “ Er Kokshe ”, “ Koblandy-batyr ” and others. Alpamysh and “not purely Kazakh epics” became common at that time. Korogly "common to many peoples of Central Asia ^[2]

In the development of Kazakh folk poetry, modern researchers distinguish three periods ^[3] :

• Zhyrau period ( XV century - first half of the XVIII century );
• Poetic period (second half of the 18th century - the first half of the 19th century );
• Aitys period (second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20th century ).

Initially, Kazakh folk poets were called “zhyrau” ^[4] . In modern times, the term “ akyn ” is used more often, previously designating only improvisational poets participating in aitys - poetic competitions ^[5] . Artists of folklore who were not creators bore the names “ zhyrshy ” ^[6] and “deer” ^[7] .

The emerging Kazakh poetic tradition was inseparable from the song tradition ^[1] .

Folklorists of the 19th century divided Kazakh folklore into epic, lyrical and didactic ^[8] .

Local historian Khalel Dosmukhamedov singled out the following types of Kazakh folk poetry ^[1] :

Mukhtar Auezov divided the Kazakh poetic tradition into three branches ^[1] :

• Sorrowful, mournful songs ( Zhoktau - funeral lamentation, Estirtu - sad poetic news, Kostasu - songs of farewell, Konil Aitu - expression of condolences).
  • Kostasu, in turn, is divided into several topics: farewell to their native land and people, farewell to their life, farewell to the past years.
• Songs related to religious rites and superstitions.
• Wedding songs, including those related to the ceremony of seeing off the bride.

Nazir Tyuryakulov distinguished seven types of Kazakh folk lyrics ^[1] :

• Socio-political lyrics: Arnau (dedication song addressed to a person or group of people), Madaktau (laudatory songs), Tarihi (historical songs), Kara Deer (similar to Russian ditties ^[9] ), Hat deer (letter in verses).
• Ritual-household lyrics: toybastar, fever, betashar, besik zhyry, kostasu, joktau, estirtu, konil ait, zhubatu (consolation), sonsu (crying goodbye to a girl who leaves her father’s house for the groom).
• Labor, agricultural songs about animals, agriculture; songs dedicated to the Novruz holiday .
• Edifying lyrics: osietnam (instructive songs), tilek (wishes), zhumbak deer (song riddles), minded deer (fables), bata (blessings), algys.
• Magical and fantastic songs: legend songs, fables in verses.
• Ironic songs.
• Songs associated with magical rituals or religious rites: bucks of Saryn (song of a shaman), badik (song-spells), arbau-bailau (plot, bewitching), scratched.

The first scientific description of the features of versification in Kazakh folk poetry was made by Chokan Valikhanov ^[10] .

The founder of the theory of Kazakh versification is considered Akhmet Baitursynov , who published the book "Literary criticism" in 1926. This book describes the types of stanzas , the sizes of poetic lines, the methods of alternating lines, the types of poetic rhymes , etc. Baitursynov introduced a number of his own terms ^[10] :

• Zhorgak ( kaz. Zhorғaқ ) - a syllable rhythm designation introduced to separate the rhythm of a syllable and a verse.
• Aishyk ( kaz. Aishyқ ) is a drawing of a verse, divided into four types.
• Bunak ( kaz. Bunaқ ) - the gap between the waves of the voice, felt when reading the verse.
• Buyin - the gap inside the line.
• Kezen ( kaz. Kezeң ) - the boundary between the waves of the voice within the line.
• Tarmak ( kaz. Tarmaқ ) and shumak ( kaz. Noiseқ ) - line and stanza respectively.

Baitursynov proved the syllabic nature of Kazakh versification. He also showed that the poet Abai Kunanbayev became a reformer of traditional poetic drawing, using a large number of new sizes and varieties of stanzas and rhymes. Despite the fact that for most of the Soviet period Baitursynov’s name was not mentioned for ideological reasons, his literary ideas were further developed ^[10] .

Academician Zaki Akhmetov noted that traditionally the Kazakh verse was based on the alternation of semisyllabic (4 syllables - 3 syllables) and eight-syllable (3 syllables - 2 syllables - 3 syllables), and this figure arose even in antiquity. It is in this form that epic works are usually built, bearing the collective name " zhir " and performed in the recitative rhythm of the zyldirm . Along with this form, the eleven-complex verse (4 syllables - 3 syllables - 4 syllables or 3 syllables - 4 syllables - 4 syllables), which is found in smaller works and is often used during aytses, is quite widespread. Four- and six-compound sizes are rare, but sizes with composite lines of 14–16 syllables consisting of a pair of seven- or eight-compound lines are known ^[10] .

• Kazakh folklore

• Kazakh folk poetry // Kazakhstan. National Encyclopedia . - Almaty: Kazakh encyclopedias , 2005. - T. III. - ISBN 9965-9746-4-0 .

When writing this article, material from the publication Kazakhstan. National Encyclopedia ”(1998-2007), provided by the editors of the“ Kazakh Encyclopedia ”under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 Unported license .

• Kazakh literature (neopr.) . Encyclopedia Round the world . Date of treatment August 18, 2019.