CH.CH. VALIKHANOV ABOUT THE LANGUAGE AND STYLE OF THE TURKIC EPIC

In this article consider about the scientific contribution of Ch.Ch. Valikhanov to the Turkic epic studies, about his study of the epic culture of the Turks of Central Asia, Southern Siberia and the North Caucasus. The main place in it is devoted to the language, style and genre of the epic of the Turkic peoples, their poetic forms and their art of speech. The purpose of the article is to reveal the views and methodological approaches of the scientist in the light of the current oral theory of Parry-Lord, to identify their prospects and productivity. The practical value of the article comes from the scientific effectiveness of the works and ideas of the scientist in his analysis of oral poetic forms of folklore, stylistics and aesthetics. The main method of Ch.Ch. Valikhanov is holistic, that is, a view "from within the tradition itself" in its living process. This method did not exclude the comparative-historical, typological, systematic method, the method of analysis and revealed great prospects in the scientific study of the oral epic of the Turkic nations. The main conclusion of this article is that the first professional orientalist, ethnographer, historian, linguist Ch.Ch. Valikhanov is the founder of classical Turkic epic studies, the first collector and original commentator of its best samples. He brilliantly foresaw many directions of modern topical oral theory and world folklore and deeply understood the unique nature of the ancient Steppe knowledge, the mighty oral epic of the Turks of the North Caucasus, Southern Siberia, Central and Central Asia. For the first time, this integral epic Turkic tradition is described by him in all the genre and species richness. The historical and ethnographic approach of the scientist to the analysis of the epic art of the Turkic peoples is of valuable practical importance for oral theory and the humanities. Keywords: poetic form, oral Parry-Lord theory, tradition, formula style, Turkic epic, Steppe knowledge, initial foundations.

Sources of Ferdowsi’s poem “Shahnāma”

The article explores one of the central problems of Ferdowsi Shahnāma (10th century) studies, e.g. its sources. In modern Iranian studies coexist different points of view and continues a discussion between the disciples of the theory of Ferdowsis use of prose sources and those who consider the poet rather a brilliant compiler and innovator, who transformed epic tales about kings and heroes (folklore oral poetry in the middle Persian language) into the new Persian language (dari). The discovery and accumulation of philological arguments indicating that the middle Persian epic poetry is hidden in the poem under the cover of the new Persian verse belongs to the current problems of Shahnāma studies, since this poetry was not recorded and original texts have not survived till nowadays. The arguments of supporters of both points of are briefly presented. To test the theory about the possible reliance of the Ferdowsi epic on the oral poetic tradition, a certain number of lines of the poem containing the name Ahriman were selected and analyzed using the Parry - Lord oral theory, and as a result the formulaic rhyme was discovered. The stability of rhymes and formulaic expressions in which the word Ahriman occurs in the poem allows to conclude that, apparently, there was an oral tradition of describing the Evil Spirit, dating back to the times of Ancient Iran and the creation of the Avesta, which survived until the time of Ferdowsi. This analysis supports the idea that Ferdowsis epic is based on the oral poetic tradition.