Reminiscence of Bashkir proverbs in the Yusuf Balasagunsky’s poem “Kutadgu bilik”

Abstract

Proverbs  and  sayings  are  those  genres  of  oral  folk  art  that  are  always  in  demand  and popular in fiction. The relevance of the article consists in an attempt to reveal the peculiar reminiscences of  Bashkir  folk  proverbs  and  sayings  in  the  poem  "Kutadgu  bilik"  ("Blessed  Knowledge")  by Yusuf  Balasagunsky,  where  they  serve  the  ideological,  aesthetic,  artistic  enrichment  of  the  plot, strengthening  the  imagery  of  the  language  and  style  of  narration.  The  purpose  of  the  article  is  to identify  and  consider  Bashkir  folk  proverbs  and  sayings  –  makel  and  eytem,  the  reminiscence  of  which can  be  traced  in  the  mentioned  work  of  the  medieval  author.  Proverbs  and  sayings  enhance  the imagery of the poet's language, its poetic coloring and sound, demonstrate the author's skill in eloquence and  wordplay.  Such  traditional  methods  of  representation  are  a  characteristic  feature  of  eastern  poetry, samples of which have reached the Ural-Volga region, enriching the local Turkic literature. In this sense, the  poetic  language  of  Yusef  Balasagunsky  was  also  close  to  the  Bashkirs  with  his  reminiscence of traditional proverbs and sayings.

The article concludes that once expressed wise thoughts, based on life experience, natural phenomena and  the  surrounding  world,  are  repeated,  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  begin  to  be  represented  as generalizing  short  phrases.  In  Bashkir  folk  art,  the  traditional  poetic  genre  of  tulgau  consisted  of proverbs  and  sayings,  which  could  later  spread  as  independent  aphoristic  genres.  At  the  same  time, the  meaning  of  what  has  been  said  is  steadily  preserved.  In  aphoristic,  figurative  statements  Yusef Balasagunsky  reveals  common  and  similar  to  Bashkir  folklore  proverbs  and  sayings,  reminiscences on them. In the future (perhaps in the form of an academic grant) it would be interesting to identify the reminiscences  of  proverbs  and  sayings  of  other  Turkic  peoples,  to  whom  the  poem  by  Balasagunsky is relatable and is part of their cultural heritage.