Mythopoetics of ancient epics of turkic peoples

Abstract

This article deals with the research on dastans, the oral lore of the epic genre of Turkic peoples, featuring daunting stories and rich ethnographic details. Interestingly, the voluminous epic monuments belong to the common cultural heritage of different groups of kindred Turkic peoples: Tatars, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Nogai, Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, and others. We analyzed the epic-dastans, widespread and preserved until now in many Turkic nations, including the Tatars and Kazakhs, to identify their mythological attributes and behavioral formulas in the image of their heroes. We have noticed that the heroes of the analyzed dastans act in a "mythological space" and reflect "mythological consciousness." There, ancient mythological ideas of the Turkic nations about the world intervene with the ideas created later under the influence of Islam. By analyzing the behavior and deeds of the heroes of epic-dastans, such as "Er Tishlik", "Alpamysh Batyr", "Edige Batyr", "Koroghly", inherent in both the Kazakh and Tatar nations, we managed to find common features between the epic and mythological heroes, made a number of conclusions regarding their behavioral nature and the continuity of the mythological and artistic systems of the Turkic peoples' thought. Starting with the ancient epic and ending with the heroic dastans of the Turks, their themes and motifs in varying degrees are related to the mythological chronotype. Scientists, who devoted their scientific works to epics research, note the presence of the mythological layer in them. The mythological motif can be most expressly traced in more ancient epics, which denoted the beginning of the ancient Turkic folklore genres' development. Since the second half of the XIX century, the scientist recorded numerous folklore works of Turkic nations, told by their bearers during long scientific expeditions across Altai, Tuva, Khakassia, Shoria, Southern Siberia, East Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Northern Mongolia, and other territories of the Turkic nations' residence.