Folk Literature Research Articles

“New Humanist” Confucianism: A study of Mei Guangdi of the Xueheng group

Amidst the intellectual tides of the May Fourth Movement, Mei Guangdi (梅光迪, 1890–1945) believed that a “truly modern person” was someone who could maintain their intellectual independence and Confucian flexibility under immense cultural pressure. Because of this, Mei Guangdi took the advice of his mentor Irving Babbitt and supported the study and interpretation of the modernity within core Confucian philosophies to promote the Chinese national essence and absorb new knowledge. Mei Guangdi’s theoretical framework for “New Confucianism” included “exploring Europe’s cultural roots and its reasons for growth” rather than “ridiculously abandoning two thousand years of Chinese history.” With the aid of “folk literature,” he outlined a basic framework of modern cultural transition for “New Confucianism” and a “New Confucian Culture Movement.” In terms of core principles, Mei Guangdi emphasized the “eternal value of Confucianism” while offering new modern interpretations of “ritual.” The transformation of the “New Confucianism Movement” could be seen in how the concept of “gentleman” (junzi) affected societal transformation. More concretely, it influenced how new intellectuals understood citizenship, the responsibilities and roles of scholars, and the development of Confucianism. This article examines how Mei Guangdi used a holistic approach to Confucianism to create proposals for China’s modern cultural transition.

FIRIDUN BEY KOCHERLI-LITERATURE SCIENTIST, GREAT INTELLECT AND THE TEACHER

As for the main research method, this study is based on the qualitative approach. For this purpose, the method of in-depth interviews - with Georgian active internet users – has been conducted. The respondents are doctors, journalists as well as representatives of different academic fields, who possess media literacy skills. This year marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of the well-known literary scholar, publicist-writer, critic and translator Firidun Bey Ahmed Agha Oghlu Kocherli. He left his name in memory as a creator of the history of literary literature who had exceptional services in the history of public opinion of the Azerbaijani people, the author of "Gift to Children", a collector of folk literature, and a person who had an exceptional service in the formation of a great army of teachers. F. Kocherli was born on January 26, 1863 in the city of Shusha, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan and the home of poetry. The main period of his life, literary and pedagogical activity was connected with the Transcaucasian Teachers' Seminary, founded in 1876 in the city of Gori, Georgia, known as the Gori Teachers' Seminary.

Study on the Protection and Transmission of Oral Folk Literature of Oroqen People

Oral folk literature is an indispensable part of the intangible cultural heritage of the Oroqen people. In recent years, the protection and inheritance of Oroqen folk oral literature have achieved some results, but they are still facing challenges due to the extremely small population of this ethnic group and the dying of the ethnic language. This article focuses on the intangible cultural heritage of Oroqen folk oral literature and puts forward sustainable and specific suggestions on its protection and inheritance by summarizing useful experience and analyzing practical difficulties found in previous research on national mythology, folk songs and national rap.

ROLE OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

The present research paper is a discussion on an essential area of human life. The personality and its development with art and literature is the focal point of discussion here. Art which includes five dimensions of skill is an integral part of human life. From ancient times man could never escape his life form literature and art. Art works for the inclusion of harmony, rhythm, balance, unity, proportion, love, compassion, sympathy, fluency, compatibility in human life. These qualities lead a man towards a better version of his personality. The area in which art, particularly literature, is most easily demonstrated as an investigatory technique per se is of course that of personality study. Characterization in the master pieces of literary works portrays virtues and follies before reader. The psychological study of human personality is determined by the action of man, but the betterment of these actions can be learnt through art and literature. A writer, painter or sculptor with their artistic impression create classics and leaves the reader, spectator, or art lover to identify and absorb the best rather suitable for one. The formation of personality begins with the birth of a man. It includes songs sung by mother, folk literature in form of mythologies like ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ or heroic tales of country heroes told by grandparents, folk art forms like ‘mandana’ which is a reflection of cultural perspective of traditions and the whole process seems invisible but before the beginning of any education process lays the foundation of a personality. Man is a social animal and grows in the society. Therefore, the values, believes, experiences and expressions art and literature display belong to that society and reflects the culture of it but for sure makes a man able to transform into a useful human.

Two Theoretical Frameworks of Folklore Studies and Two Selected Tales from the Collection of the Assamese Folktales Entitled Burhi Aair Sadhu: A Discursive Analysis

Within the broad spectrum of critical theories in Folklore studies, the critical tenets of Historical materialism and Psychoanalysis are of great significance. With the appropriation of Historical materialism propounded by Engels and Marx and the Freudian psychoanalytical perspectives, there emerged two novel trends in Folklore studies. Marxist folklorists argue that the folk- the creator of the folklore mostly constitutes the working class. Therefore, the body of folk literature is the symbolic representation of the class struggle itself. On the other hand, the adherents of Freudian Psychoanalysis explicate the folktales as the symbolic expression(s) of the id’s repressed forbidden wishes and desires. The present paper intends to analyze two selected tales, namely Tejimola and Panesoi, from the collection of Assamese Folktales entitled Burhi Aair Sadhu, in the light of Historical materialism and Freudian psychoanalysis, respectively. The paper examines the theme and characters of two selected tales. Further, a close reading of both tales’ symbols and metaphors would inform the conceptual underpinnings of Historical materialism and Freudian psychoanalysis. This study also analyzes the element of fantasy in the selected tales.

EPIC CULTURE IN TURKMEN LITERATURE

Turkmens; with its rich oral cultural products, strong national ties and dynamic lifestyle, it forms an important part of the Turkish cultural circle. In various sources, there is information that the epic is composed of poetry or parable genres, with the mention that it is based on the literary reworking of prose genres such as tales, legends, and narrations, and that it is written as a mixture of verse and prose in literatures based on the Turkish language. In this respect, the concept of epic is considered as an important part of the literary heritage, social memory, written and oral tradition, although it is considered within the category of “parable” in folk literature in Turkmen culture. In this tradition, under the title of “dessan”, the concept of the term is quite broad compared to other traditions and Turkish literature, since many topics related to social life are covered besides the themes of heroism, love, religion, history and music. In this study, the nature of the concept of epic, which has an important place in the literary tradition of Turkmenistan, the performers, the musical instruments used, the schools of bahshilik and the ways of epic are emphasized.

Polysemy of Proper Names in the Language of Folklore and the Problem of Its Reflection in the “Dictionary of the Language of Oral Folklore”

The lexical-semantic language system is known to be dynamic. It is constantly evolving and changing. Polysemy is one of the primary means of systematic organization of the linguistic structure of a language. Polysemy is a universal linguistic phenomenon. It provides one of the essential requirements for a language as a signifying system that must convey the maximum amount of information with a minimum number of signs. The words of any language primarily perform a nominative function, i.e., they name various subjects, objects, and phenomena of the surrounding reality. Proper names, as opposed to standard terms, whose semantics unites and generalizes several similar objects, are characterized by the fact that when naming something, they have to individualize the thing to distinguish it from its kind. It would seem that if the function of nouns is to individualize the phenomena of objective reality, to name and determine specific facts or a particular class of names, then they should not be polysemous, but proper names can also be polysemantic, which once again testifies to the universality of the phenomenon we are studying. The main goal of our research is to present examples of lexicographic polysemic onymes present in the language of Ukrainian folklore. The article also aims to identify the main types of proper names that undergo semantic expansion. The onymic space of folklore constitutes a rather extensive system, which still requires further scientific research and lexicographic representation. The prospect of our study is that the material presented in this paper may eventually be included in the "Dictionary of the Language of Oral Folk Literature" or a selective dictionary devoted to proper names used in the language of folklore.

Distribution characteristics and influencing factors of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with the capital Beijing as the core, carries a profound geo-culture and gathers numerous intangible cultural heritages. Studying the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of intangible cultural heritage can help to propose positive suggestions for protection and development from the perspective of sustainable development. Taking 329 national intangible cultural heritages in Beijing-Tianjin—Hebei as the research objects, and using ArcGIS spatial analysis technology, combined with methods such as kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse and geographical detector, to visualize the spatial distribution of intangible cultural heritages and explore the influencing factors of their distribution. The results show that: (1) the distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is not balanced, mainly concentrated in the central and southern regions, and three high-density core circles are formed in Beijing, Tianjin, and Handan-Xingtai in Hebei Province, showing large differences in spatial distribution density; (2) Traditional techniques, traditional arts, dramatic balladry, sports, music, and medicine show the characteristics of aggregated distribution. folkways, dance, and drama show the characteristics of random distribution. Folk literature shows the characteristics of uniform distribution; (3) The Cultural Development Period is an important evolutionary turning point in the spatial and temporal distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, as well as an accelerating period in the development of intangible cultural heritage, and completes the transformation from decentralized distribution to localized aggregation distribution. In The Period of Regional Cultural Integration, the peak value is reached; (4) Economic development and social culture have the greatest influence on the spatial distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, while the influence of physical environment is relatively small.

Psychological aspects of Pashto Landay

Pashto landay is a great and delicious asset of folk literature that has not only gained fame and importance in the Pashtoon community, but is now emerging day by day as a good and beautiful poem in the field of international literature. Pashto landay of Pashto oral literature is a short and meaningful poem that is free from rhyme, but in terms of weight it is equal to the fifth long syllable of free poetry. The stress comes on the fourth syllable of each column. The first hemistich is nine syllables and the second one is thirteen syllables and ends with an independent sound. In this brief article it hasn’t discussed on the framework of landay, but the content of landay which are the voice of the heart of the Pashtoon people are analyzed from the perspective of psychology. Pashtoons who have suffered many hardships throughout their lives have been deprived of the lawful pleasures of life due to the influence of their imposed culture and all their deprivations have been pushed from the conscious to the unconscious. As a result, they have told their deprivation in landay as a poem and made themselves happy and encouraged. These problems and deprivations are different and discussing them all is beyond the scope of an article. In order to attract the attention of researchers to this topic in the future, some obvious aspects related to human psychology have been discussed.
 MOTIVE OF ESSAY WRITING
 The poem is discussed from two aspects one is the form and the other is the content. In Pashto literature there have been many discussions about poetry framework in general, but its content has not been discussed as much as it should be. In today's modern literature the psychological aspect is relatively new and important, so this aspect is stronger than others in Pashto literature, because the Pashtoon are more oppressed than any other people, so this was the reason why I wrote this article. It has come so that readers of other languages will be informed about the deprivations of Pashtoons' lives by reading this article.

TRACES OF THE PROPHET PHENOMENON IN LEGENDS

Oral culture products have an important place in the field of folk literature of Turkish culture. In this context, legends from anonymous folk narratives are cultural traces of the nation's memory. Folk imagination reflects the feelings, thoughts, lifestyles, traditions and customs of the Turkish nation in this genre. Legends, in a sense, are types that are shaped around the beliefs and rituals of individuals. In this study, the factor that is effective in choosing the type of legend and mentioning the trace of the phenomenon of the prophet is that this genre contains religious features and is based on belief. It has been determined in the texts that the stories told by the prophets in the emergence of this belief are similar to the miracles performed by the saints. In addition, legends undertake this functionality as a cultural bridge in transferring values and concepts to future generations. For these reasons, it will be focused on how the stories of the prophets in the Qur'an and their miracles are reflected in the legendary texts. However, the forms of reflection will be explained in a certain order under sub-headings. Examples will be given from the chapters in the legend texts about the situations of the prophets. The texts were selected by sampling method from the legend studies carried out in Anatolian-Turkish geography. In the studied study, eight prophets are emphasized. In the conclusion part; A general evaluation of the sections mentioned in the previous headings will be made.

An Analytical Study of Aphoristic Expressions in English with Reference to Translation

The present research deals with the notion of aphorism from the syntactic point of view with reference to translation. Aphorism plays an important role in language as a part of gaining cultural knowledge, metaphorical understanding and communicative competence. It reflects moral and philosophical meanings in different aspects of life, such as love, hatred, death, advice, faith and so on. Aphorisms are examples of folk literature but they do not tell stories and their purpose is to teach a moral lesson about an accepted truth in a memorable short statement. Aphorism is therefore defined as a concise and terse statement of a truth or a sentiment. It offers a comment on some recurrent aspects of life clothed in terms which are meant to be permanently or universally applicable. The one-line aphorism can stand by itself, but is often found in two elliptical constructions in order to enhance the saying.The study investigates the unique structure of the aphoristic expressions in English and the problems that might arise in the process of translating them into Arabic. It also investigates the translator's ii understanding of such expressions and his ability to render the deep meaning they carry through their surface words and to what extent he can provide the suitable equivalent. The study tries to answer the following questions:1. Does the syntactic structure of aphoristic expressions have any impact on the process of translation from English into Arabic?2. Does the English language have the same quantum of aphorisms as the Arabic language?3. Do English aphorisms use the same images used by Arabic?Some examples of aphorisms:1. No pain, no gain.2. The more, the merrier.3. East or west, home is best.

Exploring Local Colour in Pandit Lakhmi Chand’s Folk Literature

This research paper explores the concept of local colour which refers to the unique cultural practices, traditions, and customs of a particular region that distinguish it from other regions. The objective of this paper is to explore Indian philosophy and socio-cultural ethics through Haryanvi folklore, where an ideal society is imagined as an ordinary lifestyle. It highlights a ‘utopian’ vision through the importance of the local colour of Haryana and other regions to ensure that our cultural heritage is preserved for future generations. Moreover, its focus is on Pandit Lakhmi Chand’s use of local colour in a fictional presentation that reflects the customs, traditions, and beliefs and their preservation for generations for the people of Haryana. Through this examination, the paper offers insight into how local colour can enrich and enliven literature and how it can be used to reflect and celebrate the diversity of the human experience.

The Characteristics of the Riddle for Dong People

The riddle for Dong people could be presented as a typical character for literary composition in rhyme in Dong people's folk literature, which is also the expression and representation for their wisdom with the observation for the world day by day. This paper will take a elaboration in terms of the types and the characteristics of the riddle for Dong people.

К интерпретации книжных речевых конструкций в Записках матроса Верещагина

The article examines the use of book speech constructions in the Notes of Sailor Veresh-chagin, a handwritten text of the 19th century, which was found in one of the handwritten collections of the National Library of the Czech Republic and introduced into scientific circulation by M.V.Melikhov. Thenotes of a hardly literate peasant-sailor, which have an objective folk-colloquial basis, are interesting in terms of book speech structures used in them. From a sample text (or several texts), the author borrowed words and constructions typical of book texts and appropriate to the genre chosen by him, including words and structures characteristic of business speech. In many cases, the reproduced words and combinations were not clear for the author, so he transformed them. The functional purpose of such constructions was most like-ly dictated by the author’s desire to write the text according to certain rules corresponding to the chosen gen-re and presented in the sample text (texts) known to him. The analysis of book elements in the sailor’s notes reveals thefunctioning of certain lexemes in a particular period in the history of the Russian language, totrace their dynamics. Research into the linguistic features of works of folk literature, to which the sailor’s notes belong, is certainly significant since such works reflect the Russian speech of a certain period. Thestudy of the Notes makes it possible to trace the history of individual words and the functioning ofspeech elements of different styles, and contributes to the reconstruction of a true portrait of both the time and the heroes of that time.

The Witch in Flight

The Witch in Flight

Обрядовый фольклор хакасов на рубеже XVIII–XIX веков: историографический аспект

In the traditional folklore culture of the Khakass, good wishes played an important role, with every custom or ritual accompanied by a verbal performance of good wishes. The Khakass people held the belief that the power of good wishes spoken aloud could bring a sense of well-being into one’s life. Of great value for the study are the records of the ritual folklore made by N. F. Katanov. These records are accompanied by a complete ethnographic description of the performed rituals, attributes used in the rituals, actions performed by shamans, and their spells addressed to the deities and spiritual masters of the terrain. The rite is regarded as the interaction of word and action, ritual and verbal text. This work analyzes the texts of the algas published in Volume 9 of “Samples of folk literature of the Turkic tribes” compiled by V. V. Radlov (1907). N. F. Katanov recorded about 70 unique cult texts. Of particular interest are the examples of cult poetry, such as good wishes, shamanic incantations of ancestral spirits, worship of Mother Fire, texts related to the veneration of the master spirits of nature and terrain, and curses. The analysis has revealed two main thematic variants of the algas genre in the ritual poetry of the Khakass, with the first one including the texts functioning as calls and requests for help and assistance and the second one representing good wishes, blessings, and parting words.

МИХАЙЛО ГРУШЕВСЬКИЙ ЯК ІСТОРИК УКРАЇНСЬКОГО ФОЛЬКЛОРУ

The article highlights Mykhailo Hrushevskyi’s scientific views on the problem of historicism of the Ukrainian oral literature and periodization of folk songs. The scientific and critical reception of the historical literary strategies of the author, the essence of the main discussion questions addressed by the reviewers is clarified to the researcher. Based on the analysis of folkloristic volumes "History of Ukrainian Literature" and separate ethnological works of the scientist trace the formation of the methodological foundations of M. Hrushevskyi, a folklorist, established their conceptual affiliation to the positivist stage of Ukrainian cultural historical school, it was found that some of his research ideas corresponded to the provisions of the French school genetic sociology. The folkloristic development’s study of one of the most authoritative historians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries showed the scientific productivity of his conceptual considerations regarding the chronology of folklore phenomena and their application in further folklore studies. In the theoretical aspect, the problem of the relation between folklore and literature in the research from the point of M. Hrushevskyi is revealed, which is considered in two interwoven planes: 1) the origin of oral folk literature and its specifics; 2) the issue of common study of folklore and literature. It has been found that, using the inductive method in the interpretation of the folklore tradition, M. Hrushevskyi had critical attitude towards the extremes of comparativism and at the same time he deeply respected the research effectiveness of the historical-comparative method of studying and clarifying similarities and borrowings, as well as determining the national specificity of oral Ukrainian literature. As a scientist with a historical mindset, the researcher penetrates through the layers of centuries and millennia, presents a scientifically based chronology of the stages of the development of Ukrainian folklore, explains the theory of the origin of literature, tries to trace the oral literature before the Slavs’ settlement and after it, catches the echo of creativity of tribal times, researches and reconstructs army poetry.

The Story of Dhon Cholecha: A Structural Analysis

Folktales are part of folk literature, which is more widely referred to as folklore. Every community has its own folklore and it has been widely practiced since the time immemorium. It is the oral art of the common people representing the contributions of many anonymous creators. Folktales are regarded as the simplest form of narratives these tales have their own structures. Tales of these types from various cultures have also been analyzed in terms of their structures. In the present study Vladimir Propp can be considered for the structural analysis of a Nepali tale. After the publication of his book Morphology of the folktale the folklorists got a new approach to reveal the tales from its structures. So, this research article tries to explore the structures of a Nepali folktale using a tale to explore its own structures. To make a whole it advocates an investigation of the relationship between forms and suggests a structural analysis. In this context a tale from Tales of Kathmandu "The story of Dhon Cholecha" has been analyzed to meet the aforementioned objective. Since this tale has its narrative structure where we find two different moves and can be diagnosed as the first move and the second move and they run in a quite contrastive way, so from this type of contradiction the tale can be analyzed in terms of contrastive structure analysis from the narrative of "Dhon Cholecha" which contributes for the ‘social purpose’ of story telling as well.

HZ. PEYGAMBER’İ NÂBÎ’NİN DİLİNDEN OKUMAK VE ŞİİRLERİNDE GEÇEN ESMÂ-İ NEBÎ’YE EPİTET KAVRAMI AÇISINDAN BAKMAK

Hz. Peygamber, Türklerin Müslüman olduktan sonra yazdıkları dinî ve tasavvufî eserlerde olduğu kadar, konusu doğrudan din ve tasavvuf olmayan eserlerde de sıklıkla saygı, sevgi ve özlemle anılmıştır. Bu denli yaygın biçimde kendisinden bahsedilen Hz. Peygamber’in öne çıkarılan vasıflarının tespiti, Müslüman Türk şairlerinin gönül dünyasında ve zihinlerindeki Peygamber tasavvurunu belirlemede önemli bir kaynak olarak öngörülmüştür.
 17. yüzyılda hikmet geleneğinin temsilcisi olan Nâbî, bu makalenin araştırma konusu açısından, yaşadığı dönem için iyi bir örnek olarak varsayılmış; onun manzum ve mensur eserlerinde yer alan Hz. Peygamber ve O’nun vasıfları taranarak tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Elde edilen onlarca sıfat, esmâ-i Nebî metinlerindeki isimlerle benzeşen ve benzeşmeyen yönleriyle karşılaştırılmış, son yıllarda halk edebiyatında kullanılan “epitet” kavramıyla açıklanıp açıklanamayacağı tartışılmıştır. 
 Sonuçta, önemli bir Osmanlı şairinin eserlerinden çıkarılan Peygamberimizin sıfatları ile Osmanlı toplumunun geçmişten o tarihlere kadar getirdiği Peygamber tasavvuru olabildiğince derli toplu biçimde ortaya çıkarılmaya çalışılmıştır.

Editorial

University of Loralai (UoLi) is publishing Quarterly Research Journal (QRJ) entitled “Siazga Research Journal (SRJ)” along with its other co-curricular, research and academic programmes. “SRJ” is currently in the process of approval from HEC. The research journal owes its name to an historical mountain of District Loralai, Balochistan, Pakistan of the same name which treasures historical and cultural heritage of the land. Folk literature of Pashto mentions “Siazga” here and there. It is worth mentioning that a renowned scholar/researcher Dr. Muhammad Sadiq Zharak has also written a comprehensive research article in Pashto in which he has thoroughly discussed/analyzed the dialectical, lexical and etymological roots and historical background of Siazga.