Yer Targyn

"Yer Targyn" ("Yer Targyn") - Kazakh heroic epic (zhyr). The events described in the epic are connected with the history of the Nogai tribes. For the first time “Er Targyn” was recorded in 1859 by akyn Marabai by the Russian orientalist N. Ilminsky and published by him in 1862 in Kazan . Published by the Russian orientalist-Turkologist V.V. Radlov in the fundamental 10-volume codebook “Samples of the folk literature of Turkic tribes” (1870, Petersburg). The version of akyn Marabai, published in 1922 in Tashkent by the folklorist A. Divaev in the book “Kyrgyz Cossack epic hero”, was widely used. “Yer Targyn” attracted the close attention of writers and scholars; M. Auezova , S. Mukanova , A. M. Margulan , M. Gabdullin , K. Zhumaliev . A short version of “Er Targyn” in the form of a legend, recorded in 1939 by Z. Bekarystanov, is stored in the scientific library of the Academy of Sciences. The main idea of ​​the epos is a call for unity, for an end to internecine wars between individual khanates. The hero of the epic is presented as a hero, an intercessor of the people, a defender of the homeland from foreign invaders. The image is monumental, majestic: Targyn strikes with extraordinary physical strength, military valor. Together with the hero, his faithful girlfriend acts - the beautiful Akzhunus, the daughter of Khan Akshi, who despised estate prejudices and fell in love with the intercessor. This is one of the most poetic female images in Kazakh poetry. “Er Targyn” is distinguished by a deep attention to the inner world of a person, which is revealed through monologues and dialogues, and meditation songs (tolgau). The form of the verse is typical of the Kazakh epos - it is a 7-8-complex verse (zhyr), alternating with prose. “Yer Targyn” is the basis of the plot of the opera of the same name by E. Brusilovsky .