This article examines the origin of the story Koroglu, an Azerbaijani folk hero, and his fame in France and America.

Shamanhood and Mythology. Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy and Current Techniques of Research. In Honour of Mihály Hoppál, celebrating his 75 th Birthday, 2017

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Koroghlu Dastani (The Epic of Koroghlu), common heroic epic of the Turkic peoples, was firstly recorded and then translated into English by Alexander Chodźko in 1834. It became popular in Europe and during short time translated into different languages, such as French, German and Russian. Romantic Koroghlu character inspired writers, such as George Sand and Henry Longfellow. Koroghlu Dastani travelled through the languages and cultures, and following the USA after Europe, Longfellow wrote the poem named The Leap of Roushan Beg based on the motives of Koroghlu Dastani. Two American composers wrote music (ballads) to this poem. Firstly, this poem of Longfellow, then in modern time Koroghlu Dastani itself published by Chodźko in English were translated back into Azerbaijani language. This article put under close scrutiny the Koroghlu Dastani, studying thoroughly how this epic turned to be the source of inspiration in Europe and North America for writers and composers; and triggered tra...

Uludağ University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences, 2023

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.

Millî Eğitim, 2012

EPIC AS A LITERARY GENRE AND THE TURKISH EPIC "OGUZ KHAN", 2012

Epic is the one of the finest and earliest genres of the literature. It is a long narrative about a national, mighty, divine hero in verse. The subjects of the epics are the events that have affected the society profoundly throughout the history. The Turkish Epic Oguz Khan is a unique example of the epic tradition of Turks. It voices the expectations, dreams, images, and mythology besides hardships, natural disasters, invasions, big wars, migrations, expansion, and exploration of new lands of the Turkish nation. It bears the important features of the Turkish epic tradition. Oguz as a supra hero is the mediator of the social values of his nation. This hero who has the connection with divinity brings salvation to his nation in the narrative. This epic heritage of Oguz Khan affects a wide area so any dynasty in this area would like to have a connection with this rich epic heritage which causes to come out a number of versions. Besides countless oral versions there is one pure pagan version and two well-known Islamized versions of Oguz Khan. The aim of this study is to locate the place of the epic Oguz Khan in the world's epic tradition and analyze it from the aspect of form and context. During my research I did not come across any English version of this epic, so I have translated the pagan version because it is the first and purest form and I have attached it to my article. ÖZET Destan edebiyatın ilk ve en güzel türlerinden biridir. Destan, kutsal, milli, yüce bir kahraman hakkında manzum bir anlatıdır. Destanın konusu tarihte belirli bir toplumu derinden etkileyen olaylardır. Türk destanı Oğuz Kağan Türk Milletinin bir destan geleneğinin eşşiz bir örneğidir ve bu destan Türk Milletinin beklentilerini, imajlarını, hayallerini, mitolojisini seslendirmenin yanında tarihte yaşadığı zorlukları, doğal afetleri, işgalleri, büyük savaşları, göçü, yeni karalara yayılmayı ve keşiflerini de anlatır. Türk destan geleneğinin önemli unsurlarını barındırır. Büyük bir kahraman olarak Oğuz Kağan kendi milletinin değerlerinin taşıyıcısıdır. Bu göksel bağlantılı kahraman milletini zorluklardan kurtarır. Oğuz Kağan destan geleneği çok geniş bir coğrafyayı etkilediği için, bu coğrafyada yaşayan herhangi bir hanedanlık bu zengin destan geleneğiyle bağlantı kurmak istemiştir, sonuç olarak sayısız sözlü biçim ortaya çıkmıştır. Sayısız sözlü biçiminin yanında bir adet saf pagan biçimi ve iki tane de çok iyi bilinen İslami biçimleri vardır. Araştırmanın amacı Oğuz kağan destanının dünya

History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus

The article is devoted to several monuments of the Turkish folklore and literature the formation of which dates back to the time of Seljukids in Asia Minor: “The Book of Dede Korkut”, “The Story of Seyyid Battal” (“Battal-nameh”, or “Seyyid Battal gazavatnamesi”) and “The Tale of Melik Danishmend” (“Danishmend-nameh”).“Kitab-i dedem Korkut”, The Book of Dede Korkut”…is the only medieval epic of the Turkic peoples which has remained in written form until today. “The Book of “The Book of Dede Korkut” according to the Dresden manuscript consists of twelve songs-legends (and according to the Vatican manuscript – of six tales which have been called oguznameh), which tell of the Oghuz heroes’ deeds. The main plot which core is framed by these stories, is the struggle of the Oghuz tribes against the infidels, non-Muslims in the lands of Asia Minor and Transcaucasia, as well as strife among the Oghuz themselves. This text reflects both the events of early Turkic semi-legendary history (not ...

Journal of American Folklore, 2008

Just like in all of the world literatures, the first examples of the Turkish Literatures were the epics. The term of "destan" (epic) was and has been used for several verse genres and types within the Turkish literary traditions.