Similes in the Yakut and Altai epics

(the case of the olonkho Mighty Er Sogotokh and kai cherchek Maaday-Kara)

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of comparisons of two different Turkic epics. The purpose of this work is to establish commonality and differences in the use of comparison as an artistic-visual means on the material of the texts of the Yakut olonkho Mighty Er Sogotokh and the Altai epic Maaday-Kara. The relevance of the study is determined by the increasing interest in the comparative study of the language and poetics of the epics. Researchers of different years have always noted the considerable importance of studying national figurativeness, figurative means in comparative study: firstly, in establishing their similarities and differences, interconnections, interactions; secondly, in the study of the aesthetic views of peoples, their psychology, nature of thinking, worldview. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the peculiarities of the use of comparison, objects and images of comparison in the Yakut olonkho were not studied in comparison with the Altai epic.

In the course of the work, a sample of comparative constructions, the derivation of statistical data on the frequency of use and repetition of comparisons in epic texts, the classification of comparisons by object and image, and a comparative analysis of the components of comparisons were carried out. As a result of the research, it was established that the comparison is widely used in the texts of both epic, and the frequency of comparison use in the Altai epic is higher than in the Yakut one. It is noted that 65-76% of the comparisons of the two epics are part of the parallelisms, and also confirmed the popularity of the design of two-term parallelism in the Turkic epics (90-92%). The “basic stable comparisons” of the epics that give a heroic tone in the style of epic works are defined. These comparisons reflect the main epic concepts of “hero”, “horse”, “people” and “cattle”, which turned out to be common to the Altai and Yakut epics. A comparative analysis of the composition of the components (objects and images) of the comparisons of the two epics revealed a commonality in the thematic content, the difference is observed in their percentage ratio. Comparisons of the Altai epic Maaday-Kara are characterized by archaism, stability and simplicity in design, and comparisons of the Yakut epic Mighty Er Sogotokh – improvisation, expansion, implicitness, complex structure.

Acknowledgements: This research has been conducted as part of the scientific-research project NEFU “Heroic Epics of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Eurasia: Problems and Perspectives of Comparative Study”.

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