Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 5

Turkmen Epos: Origin and Modern Conditions Djamilya Kurbanova Annotation - The epic branch is one of the central directions of the oral musical and poetic heritage of the Turkmens. The carriers of the epic tradition in Turkmenistan are the bagshy- dessanchy, the modern heirs of the ancient art of ozans. The centers of epic storytelling are located in the Dashoguz and Mary regions, they differ significantly from each other in terms of repertoire, genre and performance features. The main genres in the repertoire of bagshy-dessanchy are the monumental cycles of epic tales “Gokut ata” and “Gorogly”, numerous author's and folk dessans, legends with music, as well as musical transcriptions of literary works of Turkmen classical poets. The structure of epic genres is based on the alternation of poetic and prose sections. Poetic lines are sung in the form of songs, and prose is recited in a performing manner characteristic of each school. Songs determine the development of musical dramaturgy in dessans. The performances of the bagshy-dessanchy represent a consistent movement towards the climax, where each stage of the narrative is characterized by a certain type of epic songs. The article describes the main stages in the formation of the schools of the epic tradition in Turkmenistan, and also presents the genre classification of the modern oral musical and poetic heritage of the Turkmens. Keywords: turkmen epic art; oral tradition; bagshy- dessanchy; epos; dessan; epic song. I. I ntroduction he epic branch is one of the central directions of the oral musical and poetic heritage of the Turkmens. The carriers of the epic tradition in Turkmenistan are the bagshy-dessanchy , the modern heirs of the ancient art of ozans . The art of epic storytellers is the highest achievement of Turkmen folk art. It reflects the national features, concentrated high moral and patriotic ideals of the people. The repertoire of Turkmen storytellers includes a number of author's and folk dessans, including “Shasenem and Garyp”, “Leyli and Medjnun”, “Nedjep oglan”, “Baba Rovshen”, “Zohre and Tahyr”, “Sayat and Hemra”, “Asly and Kerem”, as well as the epic cycles “Gorogly” and “Gorkut ata”. The tradition of performing the Gorogly epic is still very popular in the northern region of Turkmenistan, while the performing tradition of the Gorkut ata epic has been completely lost. Local schools differ significantly from each other in terms of the use of musical instruments, genre varieties of performed works and performing features. The purpose of the article is to describe the stages of the formation of the schools of the epic tradition in Turkmenistan, to characterize the bearers of the tradition, their repertoire, and also to compose the genre classification of the genres of epic tales currently existing. II. R esearch M ethods Turkmen storytellers have traditional methods of transmitting oral heritage, allowing them to store a huge number of epic songs and texts in their memory. Poetic lines and prose are the main components of epic tales. The differences between the performers of local epic schools are most clearly manifested in the manner of singing and in the recitation of prose sections. Analysis of samples of the epic heritage, the sources for which were samples of epic genres from the fund of the Turkmen National Conservatory, as well as field audio and video materials from the personal archive of the author, made it possible to classify the genre varieties of epic legends that exist today, as well as to identify the structural features of epic songs and determine their role in the story. As a methodological base, the works of famous epic scholars V. Bartold [2; 3], E. Bertels [5], V. Zhirmunsky [9], A. Lord [15], E. Meletinsky [18], K. Raihl [22], a number of Turkmen researchers, including M. Kosyaev [29], B. Karryev [10; 11], S. Garryev [28], B. Mametyazov [16; 17], S. Agajanow [1], Sh. Gullyev [7] and others were used. III. T he H istory of the F ormation of the E pic T radition in T urkmenistan For the first time, people began to populate the territory of Turkmenistan eight to nine thousand years ago, in the Neolithic era. The first examples of archaic epic genres trace their origins to folk art, which arose at the dawn of fire worship. Folk holidays, rituals and customs of modern Turkmens contain many pre-Islamic elements associated with the paganism of the ancient Turks and with the Zoroastrian cults of the inhabitants of the oldest Central Asian oases. “Traces of the ancient beliefs of the population of the Turkmen steppes: the designation of evil spirits – maidens, peri, azhdarha, shamar (black snake) and good geniuses – the bird Simurg – are preserved in the fabulous epic of the Turkmens” [12, 18-19]. The era of the formation of shamanism among the Turkic peoples is distinguished by a developed sphere of ritual folklore. The song accompanied the performance of magical rites performed by the tribal team in order to ensure the well-being of the family in war, hunting, or in collective labor processes. Gradually, the practice of collective performance of folklore passes T © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue V Version I 11 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 A Author: Ph.D. in History of Arts, Senior Lecturer, Department of History of Music, Turkmen National Conservatoire, Turkmenistan. e-mail: j_kourbanova@mail.ru