Ideas about fate and predestination in the culture of the Turkic peoples: folklore and literary context

Abstract

The article analyzes the motive of «fate» taking into account its linguocultural specificity, reveals the components of the motive of fate in the Tatar traditional culture. The mythological roots of the folk idea of fate are revealed, the ethno-cultural contexts that influenced its formation are considered. The purpose of the study is to study the mental essence of the motive of fate in its projection in Tatar literature, folklore and traditional culture. In the ideas of the Tatar people about fate, mythological, pagan and Muslim values and traditions are intertwined. The image of the deity of Fate-« Ala atiyɣ jol tӓnri mӓn» is recorded in one of the early runic manuscripts of the ancient Turks «Yryk bitig» (VIIIIX or IX-X centuries). The earliest examples of folklore about fate are presented in the dictionary of Mahmud al-Kashgari «Divan lugat at-Turk» (XI century], the motif of fate is reflected in the Turkic literary monuments: «Kutadgu Bilig» («Blessed Knowledge») by Yusuf Balasaguni (XI century BC), in the medieval Tatar literature «Kyssa-i Yusuf» («The Legend of Yusuf») by Kul Gali (XIII century), «Tukhfai Mardan» («Gift to young men») by Muhammedyar (XVI century], etc. Yazmysh is the future, which is written by the Almighty to each person before birth, in folklore it is revealed as inevitability, predestination. The word «yazmysh» is derived from the word «yaz» (to write). In the poem «Tuhfai Mardan» by Muhammedyar, the image of scribes «betkuchelar» is created, who write down the predestinations of the Almighty. The main categories in the mental behavior of the Tatar people are «fate» («yazmysh», «kadar», «tәkdir», «өlesh», «yazu», «kүrәchak», «nasyp»), «patience» («sabyr»), «noble behavior» («adep»). The motive of fate, both in folklore and in ancient and medieval literature, is revealed in several aspects: the predestination of fate and the impotence of a person in front of it, and at the same time the desire to know and change fate with the help of various rituals and ceremonies.