Turkic epic tradition and Nizami Ganjavi’s activity

(The article is dedicated to the 880th anniversary of Nizami Ganjavi)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the Turkic epic tradition in its manifestations in medieval Azerbaijani literature. The purpose of this article is to investigate the material of the literary work of the Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi and discover the structural elements of the Turkic epic, including traditional folk epic motifs.

In the article, Nizami Ganjavi’s works in the context of the relationship between oral and written traditions are investigated. The novelty of the work is that for the first time Nizami Ganjavi’s work is considered for the study of the Turkic traditional epic structure. The material for the study is Nizami Ganjavi’s works and the materials of the Oghuz epic, including the non-Turkic epic, Khagan Shu, The Book of Dede Gorgud, Leyli and Majnun and so on. The historical-comparative and functional-semantic analysis of the epic elements identified in Nizami Ganjavi’s works and existing in the oral tradition of the Turkic epic are carried out. The descriptive and structural-semantic methods are used in the analysis.

The analysis confirms that Nizami’s work includes the traditions of the Turkic epic and their various forms, including images, motifs and plots. The structural elements of the epic are preserved in various motifs in the works of Nizami Ganjavi. Many epic elements in Nizami Ganjavi’s work coincide with the Turkic epic. Some elements in the works of the poet expand the information about the ancient Turkic epic. The poet’s works retain epic structural elements in older forms and provide material for comparing it with the modern state. The epic elements recorded in the works of Nizami Ganjavi make it possible to compare them and determine the changes in the structural and functional direction. Based on this diachronic analysis, it is possible to determine the ancient forms of the Turkic epic, including traditional epic materials – legends, rumors and “epics”. A comparative analysis of this kind of epic also helps to identify archaic structures.

In the article the importance of Nizami Ganjavi’s works, in which many epic elements are preserved and passed on to future generations, is mentioned. The works of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi as one of the trusted sources include the oral Turkic epic tradition in the written tradition and ensure its preservation until the modern era.

The perspectives of studying the Nizami Ganjavi’s works are seen in the fact that this will allow us to observe the functional changes in the development of the artistic image of the Turkic epic in written literature.

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