The place of legends in the literary structure of uzbek epic poems

In the second half of the XX century the uzbek epic poetry began to change in its subject and composition. The introduction of literary reason and expressing culture in the oral creations was the cause of not only increasing the poetic meaning and national features, but also the diversity of style in a poem structure. For example, there appeared some changes in the genre structure and system of legends because of their absorbing into the structure of lyric and lyric-epic poems. This was a reason of new types of poems’ appearance. The poems written in the base of legends have their own place in the creations of Mirmuhsin, E.Vahidov, A.Aripov, Kh.Davran, U.Kuchkar, K.Rahimbayeva. The poems like “Shirok”, “The Strike of Ghosts (Руҳлар исёни)”, “The Doctor and the Death (Ҳаким ва ажал)”, “Seven Legends About Homeland (Ватан ҳақида етти ривоят)”, “The End of Winter (Қишнинг охирлари)” can prove our thoughts.

The poems created on the base of legends can be characterized in the following way in Uzbek epic poetry: 1. The poems created on the base of legend subject. 2. The poems which have the legends compositional function. 3. The poems in which the legend is used as psychological stylistic device.

The subject and the personages of a legend are moved to the written literature in the poems created on the base of legend subject.

Shirok is one of the sentimental examples, personages among literature heroes who sacrificed his life for his native land. That’s why legend always inspired the creators. His inimitable heroism and brevity made the writers of the XX century write many works devoted to him. These features are found their reflection in many creative works of the Uzbek epic poetry. Mirmuhsin’s “Shirok (Широқ)”, Usman Kuchkar’s “Shirok (Широқ)” poems are the proof to our opinions.

Mirmuhsin paid much attention to the historical consistency, to reflect the realistic features of life in the poem. Even the poems “Shiroq” written by Mirmuhsin and by Usman Kuchkar differ in their structure, measure, the line of personages, literary style and language; they are the same according the idea, and the creation on the base subject of national legend. The both works can be included to the base created on legends’ subject.

The main idea of the poem “Shirok” by Mirmuhsin is to show the deep, endless love and devotedness to the homeland and to people. The line of personages of the legends “Shirok” and “Tumaris” are included in this work. They are Shirok, Tumaris, the heads of the tribes Saxfar, Omarg, Rustak, Doro, his colonel Ranosbat. In creating the historical characters the poet widely used the literary composition not avoiding the history, the historical facts. It is concretely shown in the drawings of heroes’ portraits. But, beginning from Shirok’s sword which had a lion shape up to his never being defeated, his being like an eagle on the horse, his sharp shoot of arrow, never let the wolves approach the herd, his being a professional hunter, and at last his appearance: his profound look, strong and solid body show the poet’s deep love to his creating personage. This shows that the personages of legends can have new characteristics thanks to reproducing them in the poetry.

Mirmuhsin, using the literary composition, introduced personages of Shirok’s children into the poem, individualized themand gave each of them a separate meaning.

So, the poet reproduced the subject of a legend in literary way, and represented it to the reader in a shape of book. As the Russian literary critic M.Chislov wrote, poem represents the amalgamated features of lyrics, epos, and playwriting (1, 71). It shows that poem gives the great opportunities to the poet to express the reality. That’s why the events in the poem found their more wide description, reflection in details, they have a wide description of personages.

We can make a following conclusions according the analysis of “Shirok” poem: 1. There was the usage of legend personages. 2. The subject of legend is absorbed to the structure of a poem. 3. The complete correspondence of reality and literary composition.

Abdulla Aripov’s poem “The Doctor and the Death” is also built on the base of a legend (2, 371–389). There created one poem of complete structure according the three legends about Avicenna.

For example, the national legend “Avicenna and books” is about the Bukara khan’s falling ill and Avicenna’s treating him (3, 102–106). A.Aripov paid attention to two features of that legend: 1. Avicenna’s arrival to Bukhara to cure khan. 2. The burning of Avicenna’s library by his enemies. The poet literary reproduced the material of legend and enriched its meaning. The scenes of Avicenna’s treating the princess, his stay at the castle as a doctor, his earning the right of using castle library are described in realistic situations.

The situations of Avicenna’s curing the daughter of Iran shah are described in the legend “The Poison”(3, 109–112). A.Aripov creatively used the motive of Avicenna’s treating the princess — daughter of Iran shah. The princess is as a daughter of Bukhara shah in the poem.

The legend “Avicenna and the herbs” tells about the flammable flower and its specific features. A.Aripov very effectively used the meaning of this legend also. This can be proved in the episodes where Avicenna found a treatment to death. The historical sources and legends completely prove that Avicenna was eager to find a cure to death. The above mentioned legend shows these two features also: these features are Avicenna’s making a living medicine with the help of flammable flower and snake’s poison and the other doctors’ envious glance at him. A.Aripov stressed these features in the poem, literary reproduced the material of the poem and represented as a poem to his readers. The personage of a shepherd in the legend found its reflection in the personage of Mirzo in the poem. It is right that the shepherd in the legend is kind, but Mirzo in the poem is envious. The poet absorbed such features as the doctors’ envy and the shepherd’s return Avicenna to life in the personage of Mirzo.

In common, the lyric-epic poems’ place was widened thanks to the “the poem which had an aim of creating the personage of a great doctor and scientist-encyclopedist perfectly classifies the central permanent themes of the art — the meaning of life and eternity, the fight between the kindliness and envy” (D.Begimqulov)(2, 415). A.Aripov created a new type poem with a complete subject on the base of several national legends’ subjects and historical sources.

In the poem “Strike of ghosts” E.Vahidov used some styles to show his readers the fate of his main hero Nazrul Islom. One of them is to absorb legends into the creation’s context. The literary critic Sh.Hasanov said: “If a metaphorical thinking dominates in the lyric poems, the influence of folklore becomes noticeable in the dramatic and lyric-epic poems. The legends in the poem “Strike of Ghosts” can easily prove our thoughts. All legends in the poem are the pearls of the Eastern classic folklore. The classical features of these legends are not important. The main feature of it is the absorbing of legends into the context, meaning of the poem. The use of realistic and romantic descriptions’ style in the modern epic poetry proves the future development of that genre” (4, 36). The legends “The legend about Cruelty”, “The legend about Eternity”, “The legend about devotedness”, “The legend about Shohjahon and Avrangzeb” found their place in the structure of a poem and became the device of main hero’s psychology description in the work (5, 366–444). That’s why the work can be included to the line of poems which have the function of psychological description. Bengali revolutionary poet Nazrul Islom’s struggle for his people’s independence and freedom, his feelings, thoughts and psychological sensations are deepened thanks to the legends. Each of them served as a main device in the opening the leading characteristic features of Nazrul Islom.

At the very beginning of a work the poet gives “The legend about eternity”. They say there is a water of life and a man who drinks it will live forever. The legend mainly consists of this situation. The passenger who became thirsty in the desert and the old man who was suffering whole his life after drinking this water are described in the legend. In the face of the passenger the reader can see a patient persons’ character.

“The strike of ghosts” is not a poem of a one subject line. But there is a look at Nazrul Islom’s life time by time and place by place. Nazrul Islom born in a very revolutionary time wanted to be a support, survivor of his people. Chronological time and the plot of events don’t play the main role in the work. But the historical features are noticed in it. This feature brings the feature of necessity of historical legends. In the result of it E.Vahidov turned his attention to the national legends. He gives “The legend about devotedness” to suit the lyric description with the epic one and to draw the real description of a main hero’s psychological condition description. In ancient India it was a custom to bury the wife if her husband dies. The legend tells this event. The brevity of one fellow who was going to the war and his strike against this custom which was in Indian history for many centuries is described in the legend. Because he directly said to the king that if he died in the war he’d like to be buried with his weapons instead of his wife. Since that period this custom was escaped from Indian traditions. So thanks to brevity, dare and devotedness of one fellow Indian people got rid of one old cruel custom. Nazrul Islom who wanted to see India independent and free was the first who tried to tear the chains from the neck of his country. So the similarity between the fellow from the legend heroes and Nazrul Islom have come exactly from this feature.

The hero of “The legend about Shohjahon and Avrangzeb” Shohjahon is close to Nazrul Islom spiritually and psychologically. Insulted by his son Shohjahon watches the world and “Tajmahal” through the little window of his house and thanked god even for this. Nazrul Islom imprisoned by people — by ignorant people also watches the world through the little window of prison. So, Shohjahon and Nazrul Islom are owner of the same spiritual and psychological features.

It is observed that in the poem analysed above each legend has its own literary function in the poem which differ in nature and don’t repeat each other. These features are seen in the followings:

1.         The subjects of legends are absorbed in the literary structure of Mirmuhsin’s “Shirok” and A.Aripov’s “The doctor and the death”. In the result of it the epical features of the legends are increased in the poem and suited with the deep lyrics. It is correct that in “Shirok” Mirmuhsin made a poem from legend without additions. But this feature is unnoticeable in many points of the work (like Shirok’s brevity and description of his family).

2.         A.Aripov literary reproduced some suitable features of several legends about Avicenna and created a poem of one complete subject. The legends are so absorbed into the poem “The doctor and the Death” that the reader can not differ it from reality.

3.         There are four legends in the literary structure of Erkin Vahidov’s poem “The strike of ghosts”. This created the new styles of composition in the genre structure. They all have the separate symbolic significant meaning. The legends serve to clear the psychological thoughts of Nazrul Islom, to strengthen the philosophical meaning of the work. In this way the poet was able to introduce his hero to the reader. At the same time the legends had a historical character and that’s why suited the whole meaning of a poem. By it the poet stressed that the poem was historical.

4.         The introducing of national legends into the structure of epic poems is the complete literary case in the second half of the XX century of uzbek epic poetry. It proves that our poets have wide knowledge about our national heritage, oral folklore genres, and especially legends.

5.         The poems created on the base of national legends widened the chances of epic description.

It is clear that every legend in the poems has its ideological literary conception. The main is that they are subordinated to the poem genre demands and made in a poetic form. So the poets were able to express the poetic ideamore sentimentally and to show the structure more clearly. It is important that the national legends served to enrich the literary features of the poem. It is characterized as a leading tendency in the Uzbek epic poetry of the second half of the XX century. By that time they are estimated as the product of genre stylistic researches of our poets, creators.

References:

1.                  Числов М. Время зрелости — пора поэмы. Москва: Советский писатель, 1986. Стр.71.

2.                  Орипов Абдулла. Танланган асарлар. Тўрт жилдлик. 1-жилд. -Тошкент: ҒҒАСН, 2000. –Б. 371–389. -Б 415.

3.                  Асотирлар ва ривоятлар. -Тошкент: Ёш гвардия, 1990. –Б.102–106, 109–112.

4.                  Ҳасанов Ш. ХХ асрнинг иккинчи ярми ўзбек достонлари поэтикаси. ДД. -Тошкент, 2004. –Б.36.

5.                  Воҳидов Э. Садоқатнома. –Т.: Ғ.Ғулом номидаги Адабиёт ва санъат нашриёти, 1986. –Б.366–444.