Dede Korkut
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The ''Book of Dede Korkut'' or ''Book of Korkut Ata'' (, ; ; ) is the most famous among the
dastan Dastan () is an ornate form of oral history, an epic, from Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. A dastan is generally centered on one individual who protects his tribe or his people from an outside invader or enemy, although only occasion ...
s or epic stories of the
Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...
. The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic
Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
and their pre-Islamic beliefs. The book's mythic narrative is part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Oghuz origin, mainly of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Only two manuscripts of the text, one in the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
and one in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, were known before a third manuscript was discovered in a private collection in
Gonbad-e Kavus Gonbad-e Kavus () is a city in the Central District of Gonbad-e Kavus County, Golestan Province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The modern name, meaning "the tower of Kavus", is a reference to the most impo ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, in 2018. The epic tales of ''Dede Korkut'' are some of the best-known Turkic dastans from among a total of well over 1000 recorded epics among the Turkic and
Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...
language families.


Origin and synopsis of the epic

''Dede Korkut'' is a heroic dastan, also known as the ''Oghuznama'' among the Oghuz, which starts in
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, continues in
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, and centers most of its action in the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
. According to Barthold, "it is not possible to surmise that this dastan could have been written anywhere but in the Caucasus". The ''Dede Korkut'' is the principal repository of ethnic identity, history, customs and the value systems of the Oghuz throughout history. It commemorates struggles for freedom when the Oghuz were a herding people although "it is clear that the stories were put into their present form at a time when the Turks of Oghuz descent no longer thought of themselves as Oghuz". From the mid-10th century onward, the term ''Oghuz'' was gradually supplanted among the Turks themselves by ''Turkoman''. The process had been completed by the early 13th century. The Turcomans were those Turks, mostly but not exclusively Oghuz, who had embraced
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and begun to lead a more sedentary life than their forefathers. In the 14th century, a federation of Turcoman tribesmen, the
Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...
, established a
confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
centered in eastern Turkey, Azerbaijan,
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and western Iran.


Contents

The twelve stories that comprise the bulk of the work were written down after the Turks converted to Islam, and the heroes are often portrayed as good Muslims while the villains are referred to as
infidels An infidel (literally "unfaithful") is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligion, irreligious people. Infidel is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical term in Ch ...
, but there are also many references to the Turks' pre-Islamic magic. The character Dede Korkut, "Grandfather Korkut", is a widely-renowned soothsayer and bard, and serves to link the stories together, and the thirteenth chapter of the book compiles sayings attributed to him. The historian
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks, , Middle Turkic languages, Middle Turkic: , , , , , , ka, პაჭანიკი, , , ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pečenezi, separator=/, Печенези, also known as Pecheneg Turks were a semi-nomadic Turkic peopl ...
and
Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...
. Many story elements are familiar to those versed in the Western literary tradition. For example, the story of a monster named
Tepegöz In Turkic mythology, Tepegoz or Tepegöz is a legendary creature who has only one eye on his forehead – a kind of cyclops. He is an ogre that appears in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'', a famous epic story of the Oghuz Turks. Etymology In Turkic l ...
"Goggle-Eye" bears enough resemblance to the encounter with the
Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...
in
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'' that it is believed to have been influenced by the Greek epic or to have one common ancient Anatolian root. The book also describes in great detail the various sports activities of the ancient Turkic peoples:


Synopses

# Boghach Khan Son of Dirse Khan: tells the story of the miraculous birth of Boghach Khan, how he grew up to become a mighty warrior and earned a princedom, how his father Dirse Khan was tricked by his own warriors into trying to kill him, how his mother (unnamed) saved his life, and how he rescued his father from the treacherous warriors; Korkut arrives at the celebration and creates the story; # How Salur Kazan's House was Pillaged: tells how the infidel (i.e., non-Muslim) Georgian King Shökli raided 's encampment while Kazan and his nobles were hunting, how Kazan and the heroic shepherd Karajuk teamed up to track down Shökli, how Kazan's wife Lady Burla and son Uruz showed quick-thinking and heroism in captivity, and how Kazan's men arrived to help Kazan defeat Shökli; # Bamsi Beyrek of the Grey Horse: tells how the young son of Prince Bay Büre proved his worth and earned the name Bamsi Beyrek, how he won the hand of Lady Chichek against the resistance of her brother Crazy Karchar, how he was kidnapped by King Shökli's men and held captive for 16 years, and how he escaped upon hearing that Lady Chichek was being given to another man and how he won her back; Korkut appears as an actor in the story, giving Beyrek his name and later helping him outwit Crazy Karchar; # How Prince Uruz Son of Prince Kazan was Taken Prisoner: tells how Salur Kazan realized that his son Uruz was sixteen but had never seen battle, how Kazan and Uruz were attacked by the infidels while on a hunt, how Uruz entered the fray and was taken captive, how Lady Burla reacted on realizing her son was in danger, how Kazan tracked down the infidels and how Uruz begged him to flee, and how Lady Burla and Kazan's men arrived and helped Kazan rescue Uruz; this story mentions three infidel kings: Shökli, Kara Tüken, and Bughachuk, who is beheaded; # Wild Dumrul Son of Dukha Koja: tells how Wild Dumrul offended God by challenging
Azrael Azrael (; , 'God has helped'; ) is the canonical angel of death in Islam and appears in the apocryphal text Apocalypse of Peter. Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael holds a benevolent role as God's angel of death; he acts as ...
, how Dumrul realized his mistake and found favor with Allah on condition that someone agrees to die in his place, how Dumrul's parents refused to die in place but his wife agreed, how Dumrul asked Allah to spare his wife and how Allah granted them 140 years; Korkut commands that this story be kept alive by the bards; # Kan Turali Son of Kanli Koja: tells how Kan Turali won the heart and hand of infidel Princess Saljan of Trebizond by bare-handedly defeating a bull, a lion, and a camel, how the Princess's father changed his mind and sent 600 warriors to kill him, and how the Princess helped Kan Turali defeat her father's men; Korkut also appears in the story as the storyteller at the wedding; # Yigenek Son of Kazilik Koja: tells how Kazilik Koja is captured by the infidel King Direk of Arshuvan while trying to raid Düzmürd Castle on the Black Sea, how he was held 16 years, how his son Yigenek grew up not knowing his father was a captive, how Yigenek found out his father was alive and asked permission from Bayindir Khan to rescue him, and how Yigenek defeated King Direk after Bayindir's other men failed; Korkut shows up at the celebration; # How Basat Killed Tepegöz: tells how Basat was raised by a lioness and how Tepegöz was born of a human father and a peri mother, how the two boys were raised as brothers, how Tepegöz terrorized the Oghuz by demanding they continually provide young men and sheep for him to eat, how Basat was convinced by one of the Oghuz mothers to fight Tepegöz , and how Basat defeated Tepegöz in a fight that borrows heavily from the
Polyphemus Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
story in the ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
''; Korkut plays a role in this story of the mediator between Tepegöz and the Oghuz; # Emren Son of Begil: tells how Begil becomes warden of Georgia for Bayindir Khan, but is tempted to rebel after feeling slighted by the Khan; how he breaks his leg after being thrown from a horse while hunting; how Shökli learns of his injury and attempts to attack him; how Begil's son Emren takes his armor and leads Begil's men to defend him; how God answers Emren's prayer for strength and how Emren gets Shökli to convert to Islam; how Begil and Bayindir Khan are reconciled; # Segrek Son of Ushun Koja: tells how Ushun Koja's elder son, Egrek, was captured by the Black King near Julfa and thrown into the dungeon of
Alinja Tower The Alinja Tower, also known as Alinjagala, Alinja-gala () or the Armenian fortress of Yernjak up to the 14th century«Крепость Ернджак (Алинджа-кала)» /Бюллетень Кавказского историко-архе ...
; how Ushon Koja's younger son, Segrek, grew up not knowing about his brother's captivity until he was taunted about it by some boys; how Ushon Koja and his wife tried to prevent Segrek from going to find Egrek by marrying him; how Segrek refused to lie with his wife until he found out his brother's fate; how Segrek finds his way to the Black King's castle and fends off several attacks by the Black King's men, but is eventually overtaken by sleep; how the Black King promises to release Egrek if he will take care of this mysterious assailant; how Egrek and Segrek recognize each other, defeat the Black King's men and return home; # How Salur Kazan was Taken Prisoner and How His Son Uruz Freed Him: tells how Salur Kazan was captured at Tomanin Castle in Trebizond; how he taunted the infidels and refused to praise them; how his son Uruz grew up not knowing about his father, and how he found out about his father's imprisonment; how Uruz led an army of nobles to rescue Salur Kazan; how they attacked the Ayasofia in Trebizond; how Salur was sent to protect the castle from the assailants but learned who they were and did not kill them; how he and his son were reunited, how they attacked the infidels, and how they returned home; # How the Outer Oghuz Rebelled against the Inner Oghuz and How Beyrek Died: How the Outer Oghuz rebel against Kazan Khan after feeling he had slighted them in favor of the Inner Oghuz; how Kazan's uncle Uruz, leading the rebels, tries to get his son-in-law Beyrek to join the rebellion, and how he kills Beyrek for refusing; how Beyrek is taken home, where he calls on Kazan to avenge him; how Kazan and his forces defeat Uruz, after which the surviving rebels surrender and reconcile with Kazan; # The Wisdom of Dede Korkut


Language

The language of the Gonbad manuscript is of a mixed character and depicts vivid characteristics of the period of transition from later Old Oghuz Turkic to the Early Modern Turkic of
Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan (, , ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republ ...
. However, there are also orthographical,
lexical Lexical may refer to: Linguistics * Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language * Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification * Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge * Lexical ...
and
grammatical In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the goal of which is to formu ...
structures peculiar to Chaghatai, which shows that the original work was written in the area between the
Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...
and Anatolia, later rewritten in
Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
in the second half of the 16th century and again in
Qajar Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...
in the second half of the 18th century. However, the manuscript also boasts a couple of Persian word groups, such as ''Dāvūd-ı nebī'' ( Prophet Dawud), ''Şāh-ı merdān'' ("shah of the valiant",
Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
), ''taḫt-ı Mıṣır'' (the throne of Egypt) and others. The following sentences are a few of many sayings that appear in the Gonbad manuscript: :Text in original Oghuz Turkic language: :Allāhına güveneŋ yumruḳ ursa ḳara daġlar yıḫar. :Üstin ala bedirli ay gelende sıçramaḳa ḥamlelenür. :Tekebbürlik eyleyeni Taŋrı sevmez. :Kara saçuŋ dolaşmışını daraġ yazar. :Eger erdür eger ḫatun bu dünyāda nāmūslı ġayretli ḳoççaḳ gerek. :Yapa yapa ḳarlar yaġsa yaza ḳalmaz. :Ecel vaʿde ėrmeyince kimse ölmez. :Aġlamaġıla nesne mi olur? :English translation: :Those who trust in God can destroy even the black mountains if they punch them. :When the light of the full moon appears above, he pied violent tigermakes a move to leap. :God disdains the proud. :The comb can disentangle tangled black hair. :Whether man or woman, in this world one must have an honest and zealous heart. :If the flaky snow falls, it will not stay in the summer. :If one's dying day doesn't come, that person will not die. :What can be achieved by crying?


Manuscript tradition

Since the early 18th century, the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' has been translated into French, English, Russian and Hungarian. However, it was not until it caught the attention of H.F. Von Diez, who published a partial German translation of Dede Korkut in 1815, based on a manuscript found in the Royal Library of Dresden, that ''Dede Korkut'' became widely known to the West. The only other manuscript of ''Dede Korkut'' was discovered in 1950 by Ettore Rossi in the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
. Until ''Dede Korkut'' was transcribed on paper, the events depicted therein survived in oral tradition, at least from the 9th and the 10th centuries. The "Bamsi Beyrek" chapter of ''Dede Korkut'' preserves almost verbatim the immensely popular Central Asian dastan
Alpamysh Alpamysh, also spelled as Alpamish or Alpamis (, , , , , , Kazan Tatar: ''Аlpamşa'', Altay: ''Аlıp Мanaş''), is an ancient Turkic epic or dastan, an ornate oral history, generally set in verse, and one of the most important examples ...
, dating from an even earlier time. The stories were written in prose, but peppered with poetic passages. Recent research by Turkish and Turkmen scholars revealed, that the Turkmen variant of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' contains sixteen stories, which have been transcribed and published in 1998. In 2018, the Gonbad manuscript was discovered. The first leaf of the Gonbad manuscript is missing. For that reason, it is not known how the name of the manuscript was recorded in writing. The language of the Gonbad manuscript is of a mixed character and depicts vivid characteristics of the period of transition from later Old Oghuz Turkic to Early Modern Turkic of Iranian Azerbaijan. However, there are also orthographical, lexical, and grammatical structures peculiar to Chaghatai, which shows that the original work was written in the area between the Syr Darya and Anatolia, and later rewritten in Safavid Iran in the second half of the 16th century. It was later copied again in the same area in the second half of the 18th century during the Qajar dynasty.


Dating the composition

The work originated as a series of epics orally told and transferred over the generations before being published in book form. There are numerous versions collected of the stories. It is thought that the first versions were in natural verse since Turkish is an
agglutinative language An agglutinative language is a type of language that primarily forms words by stringing together morphemes (word parts)—each typically representing a single grammatical meaning—without significant modification to their forms ( agglutinations) ...
but that they gradually transformed into combinations of verse and prose as the Islamic elements affected the narrative over time. Various dates have been proposed for the first written copies. Geoffrey Lewis dates it fairly early in the 15th century, with two layers of text: a substratum of older oral traditions related to conflicts between the Oghuz and the Pechenegs and Kipchaks and an outer covering of references to the 14th-century campaigns of the Aq Qoyunlu. Cemal Kafadar agrees that it was no earlier than the 15th century since "the author is buttering up both the Akkoyunlu and the Ottoman rulers". However, in his history of the Ottoman Empire, Stanford J. Shaw (1977), dates it in the 14th century. Professor Michael E. Meeker argues for two dates and says that the versions of the stories we have today originated as folk stories and songs no earlier than the 13th century and were written down no later than the early the 15th century. At least one of the stories (Chapter 8) existed in writing in the early 14th century, from an unpublished
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
history, ibn al-Dawadari's ''Durar al-Tijan'', written in the
Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...
sometime between 1309 and 1340. A precise determination is impossible to come by due to the nomadic lifestyle of the early Turkic peoples, in which epics such as that of ''Dede Korkut'' passed from generation to generation in an oral form. This is especially true of an epic book such as this, which is a product of a long series of narrators, any of whom could have made alterations and additions, right down to the two 16th-century scribes who authored the oldest extant manuscripts. The majority of scholars of ancient Turkic epics and folk tales, such as Russian-Soviet academician
Vasily Bartold Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold (; – 19 August 1930), who published in the West under his German baptismal name, Wilhelm Barthold, was a Russian orientalist who specialized in the history of Islam and the Turkic peoples ( Turkology). Biogra ...
and British scholar Geoffrey Lewis, believed that the ''Dede Korkut'' text "exhibits a number of features characteristic of
Azeri Azeri or Azeri Turk may refer to: * Azeri people, an ethnic group also known as Azerbaijanis * Citizens of Azerbaijan * Azeri language, the modern-day Turkic language * Old Azeri, an extinct Iranian language * Azeri Turk (journal), Academic jour ...
, the Turkish dialect of Azerbaijan".


Soviet treatment

The majority of the Turkic peoples and lands described in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' were part of the Soviet Union from 1920 until 1991, and thus most of the research and interest originated there. The attitude towards the Book of Dede Korkut and other dastans related to the Turkic peoples was initially neutral. The Turkish historian Hasan Bülent Paksoy argues that after
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
solidified his grip on power in the Soviet Union, especially in the early 1950s, a taboo on
Turkology Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and the Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative c ...
was firmly established. He observed that the first full-text Russian edition of the Book of Dede Korkut, by Azerbaijani academicians
Hamid Arasly Hamid Mammadtaghi oglu Arasly (; 23 February 1909 – 20 November 1983) was an Azerbaijani literary critic, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, and an academic at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. He is acknowledged as one of the most pro ...
and M.G.Tahmasib and based on the Barthold translation of the 1920s, was published on a limited basis only in 1939 and again in 1950. He asserts, "Turkic scholars and literati (who raised the same issues) were lost to the Stalinist 'liquidations' or to the 'ideological assault' waged on all dastans in 1950–52." According to Paksoy, this taboo of the early 1950s was also expressed in the "Trial of Alpamysh" (1952–1957), when "all dastans of Central Asia were officially condemned by the Soviet state apparatus". Soviet authorities criticized ''Dede Korkut'' for promoting
bourgeois nationalism In Marxist theory, bourgeois nationalism is the ideology of the ruling capitalist class which aims to overcome class antagonism between proletariat and bourgeoisie by appealing to national unity. It is seen as a distraction from engaging in class ...
. In a 1951 speech delivered at the 18th Congress of the
Azerbaijani Communist Party The Azerbaijan Communist Party (; ) was the ruling political party in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, making it effectively a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was formed on 20 February 1920, when ...
, Azerbaijani communist leader
Mir Jafar Baghirov Mir Jafar Abbas oghlu Baghirov (, ; 17 September 1896 – 7 May 1956) was the communist leader of the Azerbaijan SSR from 1933 to 1953, under the Soviet leadership of Joseph Stalin. Early life Born in Quba of Baku Governorate in 1896, Baghirov ...
advocated expunging the epic from
Azerbaijani literature Azerbaijani literature (, ) is written in Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, which is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken. It is also natively spoken in Iran, where the Sout ...
, calling it a "harmful" and "antipopular book" that "is shot through with the poison of nationalism, chiefly against the Georgian and Armenian brother-peoples." Nevertheless, the publication of dastans did not wholly cease during that period, as editions of ''Alpamysh'' were published in 1957, 1958 and 1961, as they had been in 1939, 1941, and 1949; the entry on dastans in the second edition of the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (volume 13, 1952) does not contain any "condemnation" either. Despite the liberalization of the political climate after the denunciation of Stalinism by
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
in February 1956, the same "Barthold" edition of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' was re-published only in 1962 and in 1977. Problems persisted until
perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
, when the last full edition in Azerbaijani was sent for publication on July 11, 1985 but only received permission for printing on February 2, 1988.


Cultural legacy

A 1975 Azeri film, '' Dada Gorgud'', is based on the epic. In 1998,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
and
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
nominated, and in 2000 celebrated, the "One thousand three hundredth anniversary of the epic poem Kitab-i Dede Qorqud". In 1999 the National Bank of Azerbaijan minted gold and silver
commemorative coin A commemorative coin is a coin issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Some coins of this category serve as collector's items only, while most commemora ...
s for the 1,300th anniversary of the epic. The epic culture, folk tales and music of Dede Qorqud has been included in the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...
of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
in November 2018.


See also

*
Turkic mythology Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrism, Tengrist and Shamanism in Central Asia, Shamanist strata of belief along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and wa ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * *


Further reading

* * *


External links


Epics
, four editions of the ''Dede Korkut'' book at the Uysal-Walker Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative, Texas Tech University, 2000–2007
"Mother-of-All-Books" Dada Gorgud
article in ''Azerbaijan International'' magazine
''Book of Dede Korkut'' at Dresden Library
{{Authority control Azerbaijani books Azerbaijani mythology Epic poems in Turkic languages Mythology books Oghuz Turks Medieval books Turkish short story collections Turkic mythology Works published anonymously Books of the Aq Qoyunlu Bayandur tribe