History of the epic Manas. The epic "Manas" and its significance in world culture

HIGH EPOS "MANAS"

The Kyrgyz people have gone through a long and hard way historical development and becoming. At one time, the Kyrgyz ethnic group was lucky enough to create its own written language, where folk spirit, reflected the pinnacle of the state national unification in the form of the Kyrgyz great power. But history turned out to be merciless to such high achievements of our people. Subsequent historical events, which led to the defeat of the Kyrgyz Kaganate and the destruction of most of the population, became the reason for the loss of the original written language of the Kyrgyz people in ancient times.

It seemed that such a people were supposed to leave the historical arena, go into oblivion, becoming one of the many ethnic groups that ceased to exist, having lost their historical and genetic memory.

But contrary to this traditional course of things, the Kyrgyz people were endowed with a unique gift - to convey exclusively orally the experience accumulated by previous generations. Word of mouth has proven to be not only viable and sustainable, but also surprisingly fruitful and effective. It was the oral folk art of the Kyrgyz that revealed the world treasury of intangible cultural heritage the brightest example of unique folklore works, represented by the most various genres. The monumental epic “Manas” rightfully became the pinnacle of this creativity.

The epic “Manas” (“Manas. Semetey. Seitek”) has a thousand-year history and is a trilogy. The work is built on the principle of genealogical cyclization, which has developed into a single heroic epic of not just a family saga, but a subtle poetic narrative about the life and struggle of the nomadic Kyrgyz people for independence, the establishment of one’s statehood, the peculiarities of one’s attitude, life, culture, education and all other aspects of life.

In the history of world literature, epics were completed only in the conditions of the established political, economic and ideological statehood, which the Kyrgyz ethnos had in ancient times. Proof of this is that the epics of others Siberian peoples, with whom the Kyrgyz lived in direct interaction, did not reach the level of epic generalization, precisely because they lacked an established government system. The epics of these peoples remained at the stage of separate tales, not connected by a single storyline and main character.

In this sense, the epic “Manas” is a unique product of the spiritual activity of the Kyrgyz people. Its uniqueness lies in its vitality, in the way it conveys the entire set of elements, starting from the plot and figurative system characters down to detail. And also in the ability, down to the present day, to continuously reproduce the reproduction of valuable knowledge and traditions embedded in the legend.

The narrative of the epic includes all aspects of the life of the Kyrgyz people, their worldview, and ideas about the world around them. It reflects the heroic and tragic story people, defining the stages of its development. Accurate sketches of the ethnic composition of both the Kyrgyz people and other ethnic groups that lived with them in close contact are given. The epic provides us with a rich understanding of the economy, life, customs, relationships with environment. From it we get the ancient Kyrgyz idea of ​​geography, religion, medicine, philosophy, ethics and aesthetics. The epic "Manas" precise definition Ch. Valikhanova is truly an encyclopedia of all aspects of the life of the Kyrgyz people.

In addition, “Manas” shows us an unsurpassed artistic level of mastery of the word, which was created by the people over a long period, passed down from century to century, from generation to generation, absorbing new storylines, layering with new ideological layers, but, at this, amazingly preserving the unchanged and imperishable content of the epic. main idea the epic “Manas”, which unites it into a single whole, is the people’s struggle for their independence. This goal was preserved and led through all the troubles and adversity, preserving the very spirit of the people, their faith in the best, preserving the very genotype of the Kyrgyz people. This fact gives us the right to believe that the epic contains the most important ideological component of the self-identification of the Kyrgyz people.

The epic “Manas”, due to its epic scope, has reached a volume that exceeds all known epics in the world. Rendered in archaic epic verse (short syllabic verse, seven- or eight-syllable, with stress on the last syllable) and, unlike most Turkic verses, entirely poetic.

The oral existence of the epic for many centuries was in danger of disappearing with the advent of civilization, which violated the traditional way of life of the nomadic Kyrgyz people. The written recording of the epic turned out to be vital and extremely necessary in order to transfer the oral tale to paper and give it a second life, already in the form of a book. IN mid-19th century, this important step was carried out by two scientists - Ch. Valikhanov and V. Radlov. They recorded episodes of the epic for the first time. From this moment it begins new page the existence of the epic "Manas", which marked the beginning of a period of deep scientific research.

The study of the epic can be divided into three stages. The first is pre-revolutionary, which laid the foundation for recording and studying the epic. The second is post-revolutionary, establishing fundamentals manasic studies. This period also turned out to be the most tragic - almost everyone who was in one way or another involved in the research and promotion of Manas was subjected to repression during the period of Soviet totalitarianism. Among these outstanding scientists were K. Tynystanov and E. Polivanov. The most important contributions to the science of the epic were made by T. Zholdoshev, T. Baydzhiev, Z. Bektenov, K. Rakhmatullin. In the development of the science of “Manas”, great credit belongs to the greatest scientists V. Zhirmunsky, M. Auezov, B. Yunusaliev, A. Bernshtam, P. Berkov, S. Abramzon, folklorists - M. Bogdanova, A. Petrosyan and many others.

IN Soviet time active work began on recording the epic. This work was started by the teacher Kayum Miftakov, who in 1922 began recording Sagymbay Orozbakov’s version. This work was continued by Ybraim Abdrakhmanov, who carried out a grandiose in its scope work on the written recording of “Manas” from various storytellers. His efforts in organizing and storing these manuscripts are invaluable.

Currently, there are 35 recorded versions of the Manas epic, they vary in the degree of their completeness. The full versions include those texts that were recorded from storytellers S. Orozbakov, S. Karalaev, Sh. Yrysmendeev, Togolok Moldo, B. Sazanov, M. Musulmankulov, Y. Abdrakhmanov, M. Chokmorov. Despite the many options, “Manas” is a single work, which is held together by a common ideological orientation, integrity storyline, themes and heroic images.

IN modern conditions epic takes everything higher value, being an ideologically unifying factor of Kyrgyz identity and independence in post-Soviet times, in an increasingly globalized world. The opening of the monument to Manas on the central square of Ala-Too and the adoption of the Law on the epic “Manas” on June 28, 2011 are evidence of the ideological unity of the people for the purpose of their development and prosperity.

The Kyrgyz people have gone through a long and difficult path of historical development and formation. At one time, the Kyrgyz ethnic group was lucky enough to create its own written language, where the national spirit was manifested and the pinnacle of the state national unification in the form of the Kyrgyz great power was reflected. But history turned out to be merciless to such high achievements of our people. Subsequent historical events, which led to the defeat of the Kyrgyz Kaganate and the destruction of most of the population, became the reason for the loss of the original written language of the Kyrgyz people in ancient times.

It seemed that such a people were supposed to leave the historical arena, go into oblivion, becoming one of the many ethnic groups that ceased to exist, having lost their historical and genetic memory.

But contrary to this traditional course of things, the Kyrgyz people were endowed with a unique gift - to convey exclusively orally the experience accumulated by previous generations. Word of mouth has proven to be not only viable and sustainable, but also surprisingly fruitful and effective. It is the oral folk art of the Kyrgyz that has revealed to the world treasury of intangible cultural heritage the brightest example of unique folklore works represented by a wide variety of genres. The monumental epic “Manas” rightfully became the pinnacle of this creativity.

The epic “Manas” (“Manas. Semetey. Seitek”) has a thousand-year history and is a trilogy. The work is built on the principle of genealogical cyclization, which has developed into a single heroic epic of not just a family saga, but a subtle poetic narrative about the life and struggle of the nomadic Kyrgyz people for independence, the establishment of their statehood, the peculiarities of their worldview, way of life, culture, education and all other aspects of life.

In the history of world literature, epics were completed only in the conditions of the established political, economic and ideological statehood, which the Kyrgyz ethnos had in ancient times. Proof of this is that the epics of other Siberian peoples, with whom the Kyrgyz lived in direct interaction, did not reach the level of epic generalization, precisely because they did not have an established state structure. The epics of these peoples remained at the stage of separate tales, not connected by a single storyline and main character.

In this sense, the epic “Manas” is a unique product of the spiritual activity of the Kyrgyz people. Its uniqueness lies in its vitality, in the way it conveys the entire set of elements, from the plot and the figurative system of characters to detail. And also in the ability, down to the present day, to continuously reproduce the reproduction of valuable knowledge and traditions embedded in the legend.

The narrative of the epic includes all aspects of the life of the Kyrgyz people, their worldview, and ideas about the world around them. It reflects the heroic and tragic history of the people, the defining stages of its development. Accurate sketches of the ethnic composition of both the Kyrgyz people and other ethnic groups that lived with them in close contact are given. The epic provides us with a rich understanding of the economy, life, customs, and relationships with the environment. From it we get the ancient Kyrgyz idea of ​​geography, religion, medicine, philosophy, ethics and aesthetics. The epic “Manas”, according to Ch. Valikhanov’s precise definition, is truly an encyclopedia of all aspects of the life of the Kyrgyz people.

In addition, “Manas” shows us an unsurpassed artistic level of mastery of the word, which was created by the people over a long period, passed down from century to century, from generation to generation, absorbing new storylines, layering with new ideological layers, but, at this, amazingly preserving the unchanged and imperishable content of the epic. The main idea of ​​the epic “Manas”, which unites it into a single whole, is the people’s struggle for their independence. This goal was preserved and led through all the troubles and adversity, preserving the very spirit of the people, their faith in the best, preserving the very genotype of the Kyrgyz people. This fact gives us the right to believe that the epic contains the most important ideological component of the self-identification of the Kyrgyz people.

The epic “Manas”, due to its epic scope, has reached a volume that exceeds all known epics in the world. Rendered in archaic epic verse (short syllabic verse, seven- or eight-syllable, with stress on the last syllable) and, unlike most Turkic verses, entirely poetic.

The oral existence of the epic for many centuries was in danger of disappearing with the advent of civilization, which violated the traditional way of life of the nomadic Kyrgyz people. The written recording of the epic turned out to be vital and extremely necessary in order to transfer the oral tale to paper and give it a second life, already in the form of a book. In the middle XIX century this important step was carried out by two scientists - Ch. Valikhanov and V. Radlov. They recorded episodes of the epic for the first time. From this moment on, a new page in the existence of the epic “Manas” begins, which marked the beginning of a period of deep scientific research.

The study of the epic can be divided into three stages. The first is pre-revolutionary, which laid the foundation for the recording and study of the epic. The second is post-revolutionary, laying the fundamental foundations of Manasic studies. This period also turned out to be the most tragic - almost everyone who was in one way or another involved in the research and promotion of Manas was subjected to repression during the period of Soviet totalitarianism. Among these outstanding scientists were K. Tynystanov and E. Polivanov. The most important contributions to the science of the epic were made by T. Zholdoshev, T. Baydzhiev, Z. Bektenov, K. Rakhmatullin. In the development of the science of “Manas”, great credit belongs to the greatest scientists V. Zhirmunsky, M. Auezov, B. Yunusaliev, A. Bernshtam, P. Berkov, S. Abramzon, folklorists - M. Bogdanova, A. Petrosyan and many others.

In Soviet times, active work began on recording the epic. This work was started by teacher Kayum Miftakov, who in 1922 began recording Sagymbay Orozbakov’s version. This work was continued by Ybraim Abdrakhmanov, who carried out a grandiose in its scope work on the written recording of “Manas” from various storytellers. His efforts in organizing and storing these manuscripts are invaluable.

Currently, there are 35 recorded versions of the Manas epic, they vary in the degree of their completeness. The full versions include those texts that were recorded from storytellers S. Orozbakov, S. Karalaev, Sh. Yrysmendeev, Togolok Moldo, B. Sazanov, M. Musulmankulov, Y. Abdrakhmanov, M. Chokmorov. Despite the many variants, “Manas” is a single work, which is held together by a common ideological orientation, the integrity of the storyline, themes and heroic images.

In modern conditions, the epic is becoming increasingly important, being an ideologically unifying factor of Kyrgyz identity and independence in post-Soviet times, in an increasingly globalized world. The opening of the monument to Manas on the central square of Ala-Too and the adoption of the Law on the epic “Manas” on June 28, 2011 are evidence of the ideological unity of the people for the purpose of their development and prosperity.

Introduction

Kyrgyz heroic epic“Manas” - in terms of its ideological content and artistic qualities ranks special place among all genres oral people creativity of the people. There has always been interest in the epic “Manas”, and scientific interest appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century, but we should not forget that representatives Russian science who visited the territory Central Asia already in the second half of the 19th century they had a certain idea about the epic “Manas”. Since the 30s of the 20th century, the epic “Manas” has become the main material for various theories and areas of science about folk art. The desire of researchers to understand and explain the epic “Manas”, its genesis in the life of the Kyrgyz and world history gave rise to disputes, which sometimes reached the socio-political level in terms of meaning and narrow academic interests.

Kyrgyz people have about forty folk epics. Of these, the most monumental is the heroic epic “Manas”. And it is in relation to “Manas” that all other Kyrgyz epics are conventionally called “small” in Kyrgyz science, although none of them are inferior in content and form to other epics of the peoples of the world.

The creators of the epic “Manas” are the Manaschi storytellers who had phenomenal memory (although memory is not the main feature) and divine gift. They are the keepers of the epic, passing on the text of the epic from generation to generation, from mouth to mouth. Thanks to the storytellers, the epic “Manas” developed and improved.

There are two versions of the origin of the epic. The folk version, where Jaisan is the first manaschi storyteller, and the scientific one, where three hypotheses about the era of the emergence of the epic are intertwined. Let's start with folk version: according to some given (about the materials of Mariyam Mussa kyzy) and current folk legends, Jaisan the son of Umet (a member of the military squad, an ascetic of Manas), is the first storyteller and creator of the heroic legend about Manas: “Jaisan from the Usun tribe was born in 682, he was 12 years younger than Manas the Magnanimous himself. Jaisan's mother is Karachakh's daughter Janylcha, his father Umet was also a member of the military squad of Manas. During the great campaign he was seriously wounded and lay unconscious for a long time, waking up from a strange sound he begins to sing about heroic deeds Manasa. And from that moment on he began to glorify the deeds of Manas. At the age of 54, at the dawn of his creativity, Jaisan was killed (out of envy) by the hands of his own student Yrchy, the son of Yraman, who also served Manas.” According to Maria Musa kyzy: “after the death of Jaisan, his work was continued by Yrchy. But from time to time in the history of the Kyrgyz people new Jaisans appeared, who were its embodiment and there were exactly nine of them.” And it was they and those storytellers whose names were imprinted in the people's memory who were the bearers and keepers of the great legend about Manas.

Science today knows mainly three hypotheses about the era of the epic:

1) According to M.O. Auezov and A.N. Bernshtam, the key events of Manas are associated with the period in the history of the Kyrgyz when they maintained relations with the Uyghurs.

2) B.M. Yunusaliev based on an analysis of the content of the epic, relying on individual historical facts, as well as ethnographic, linguistic and geographical information, comes to the conclusion that the basis of the epic is connected with the events of the 9th - 11th centuries, when the Kyrgyz fought against the Khitans - punishment of the Chinas.

3) V.M. Zhirmunsky believes that although the content of the epic contains a lot of materials reflecting the ancient ideas of the people, the historical layer of the epic reflects the events of the 15th - 18th centuries (according to S. Musaev).

“The current level of Manas research does not allow us to fully agree with one of the listed hypotheses, rejecting others as untenable. A deep analysis of the content of the epic leads to one indisputable conclusion: the events that make up the content of “Manas” represent many layers, indicating that the work was formed over a long period of time.”

The second period of historical and ethographic consideration of the epic “Manas” covers the period from 1922 to 1991.

Start scientific research The epic “Manas” in the Soviet era was founded by the works of Professor P.A. Faleva (1888-1922) - “How the Kara-Kyrgyz epic is built”, “About the Kara-Kyrgyz epic”, which were published in the first issue of the journal “Science and Education”, published in Tashkent in 1922. The author based on the recorded and published V.V. Radlov analyzes materials artistic features of this epic.

B. Soltonoev (1878-1938) is rightfully considered a Kyrgyz historian. writer and poet. He could also be called the first Kyrgyz ethnographer. His poetic and literary heritage, his creative activity generally. B. Soltonoev should be considered the first Kyrgyz scientist who, due to his preparedness, examined the epic “Manas” and some other works, as well as the work of individual manaschi. The main part of his work is devoted to the epic “Manas”. It’s called “Manas”. This study begins with how the Kyrgyz have long been singing and not forgetting such epic poems as “Manas” and “Koshoy”, “Er Toshtuk”. Researchers distinguish these poems as individual works, while their heroes full versions are characters of the same epic.

A special place among researchers of the Manas epic belongs to the outstanding Kazakh writer, folklore expert, and prominent Soviet scientist M.O. Auezov, who was actively involved in the epic from the late 20s until the end of his life. He was also in love with the epic “Manas”. His famous work, “The Kyrgyz folk heroic poem “Manas”, which was the result of many years of meticulous research, is one of the basic research about Manas."

V.V. Bartold (1869-1930) is one of the first researchers closely involved in developing the history of the Kyrgyz people, both in pre-Soviet and Soviet times. He was familiar various genres oral folk art Kyrgyz In his works, “Manas” is used as a source on various issues of the history and culture of the Kyrgyz people. V.V. Bartold is critical of the fact that in the epic “Manas” the struggle of the Kyrgyz people is depicted as religious war, although he believed that the Kyrgyz in the 19th century, as in the 16th century, were almost completely unfamiliar with the dogmas and rituals of Islam.

The merit of S.M. Abramzon (1905-1977) is well known in the study of the ethnography of the Kyrgyz people. It is perhaps difficult to name those aspects of the history and culture of the Kyrgyz that he did not touch upon. But most of all the scientist pays attention to the epic “Manas”. In his article “The Kyrgyz heroic epic “Manas””, he expresses fair dissatisfaction with the fact that “Manas” continues to remain extremely poorly studied material in ethnographic terms.

A.N. Bernshtam (1910-1959) - a prominent Soviet archaeologist, historian, ethnographer. He was one of the first among scientists to turn to the origins of Kyrgyz culture and began to draw on epic materials. In all of A.N. Bernshtam’s works on the epic “Manas”, and there are more than ten of them, the epic is considered, first of all, as a historical source.

He made the following specific conclusions:

1. This historical story about the struggle for independence of the Kyrgyz tribes, oldest stage, which dates back to 820-847;

2. The epic Manas is based on a specific historical image of the leader of the Kyrgyz people - 820-847, whose struggle was of a liberation nature.

Academician B. Dzhamgirchinov (1911-1982) is one of the first Kyrgyz professional scientists who began to use the data of Kyrgyz oral folk art in scientific developments in Soviet times.

Among Kyrgyz scientists, a special place in the study of the Manas epic belongs to professors: in the field of history B.M. Yunusaliev, in the field of folklore to R. Kadyrbaeva, E. Abdylbaev, R. Sarypbekov, S. Begaliev, Zh. Orozobekova, in the field of ethnography to I. Moldobaev, in the field of art criticism to B. Alagushev, K. Dyushaliev, A. Kaibyldaev, in the field of literary criticism K. Asanaliev and others.

B.M. Yunusaliev (1913-1970) is the author of several serious works devoted to various problems of Manas; he was one of the active initiators of the publication of the epic. How Chief Editor Kyrgyz text prepared for publication in the series “Epics of the Peoples of the USSR”, B. Yunusaliev to last days throughout his life he contributed to the solution of many issues related to the preparation of texts for publication. Such complex and responsible work as textual criticism was carried out mainly with his direct participation and under his leadership.

The famous philologist, expert on the epic creativity of the peoples of the world V.M. subjected a complex analysis to the epic “Manas”. Zhirmunsky (1891-1971). He also touched upon the issue of the time of composition of the Kyrgyz epic. The scientist attributes the composition and development of the epic "Manas" to a fairly wide range of time - VI-XIX centuries, dividing this time into three periods.

The work of the storytellers of “Manas” is compared with the ancient Greek aeds in the works of the English scientist J. Thomson. The facts of the Kyrgyz epic are widely used by foreign authors on general theoretical problems of literary criticism. In 1966, at the Kyrgyzfilm film studio, on the initiative of the prominent Kyrgyz film director M. Ubukeev (1935-1996), an experimental film (“Sayakbay”) was shot based on the second part of the epic “Manas”, already on audio tape. The recording was organized by the Academy of Sciences of the Kirghiz SSR.

Conclusion

IN Soviet era About sixty versions of the epic “Manas” were recorded from different storytellers. I would like to note the efforts of those researchers who did this, because never before in the history of Manas studies has so much work been done on recording versions of the epic as was done during this period, and perhaps in the future there will not be similar case, even if there are those who want to repeat the past, it is unlikely that there will be such storytellers from whom new versions could be written down. Of course, even in those times there were problems and shortcomings. But still, a huge amount of work has been done, which will certainly become an inexhaustible source for future scientific storytellers.

The duty commanded by God has been fulfilled...

A. S. Pushkin “Boris Godunov”

A century and a half has passed since Russian scientists Chokan Valikhanov and V.V. Radlov informed the world that the “wild stone” Kyrgyz, roaming the foothills of the Tien Shan, have the greatest oral and poetic masterpiece - the heroic epic “Manas”. Episodes of the Kyrgyz legend were recorded, published, and translated into Russian and German.

Much has been written about the trilogy “Manas”, “Semetey”, “Seytek” scientific works, were carried out scientific conferences, in 1993, the 1000th anniversary of the epic was celebrated at the world level.

Years passed, but our valiant hero never reached the broad masses; few people know the content of the epic itself, not only abroad, but also in the homeland of Manas. And the reason, apparently, is that the text of “Manas” is very voluminous and multivariate. It is impossible to translate it into verse, and in a prose translation “Manas” loses half of its artistic merit. Imagine an uncut ruby! “Zhanbashtap zhatyp sonunda” is one thing, that is, lying on your side and admiring nature, listening to a manaschi storyteller, and another thing is reading about all this yourself. But main reason, perhaps, is that until now, whether in prose or poetry, it was not the artistic content of the epic that was translated, but its execution in the interpretation of one or another storyteller. This is the same as translating not a drama by W. Shakespeare, but his production on stage, or, let’s say, not a novel by A. S. Pushkin, but an opera by P. I. Tchaikovsky “Eugene Onegin”.

So I, like the storytellers of “Manas,” dreamed...

I went to visit my Manas and saw: he came out of the felt yurt and in all his fighting glory was prancing on his white horse around the closed circle of the paddock. People are standing around, admiring the greatness of the Kyrgyz hero. And the guide enthusiastically talks about his glory and past exploits. And Manas himself is already gray-haired, and Ak-Kula has dark streaks around his eyes. I tried to open the gate of the pen, but, alas, my strength was not enough. And I, as always, called for help from my faithful and powerful friend - Great Russian language and sat down to translate, or rather to write a poetic translation of “Manas”.

Historians have proven that the events of the tale took place in the Middle Ages AD, so they had to abandon fantasy and fairy-tale hyperbole, religious and other layers of pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism introduced by storytellers after the tragic events of 1916, when the Kyrgyz people, finding themselves between two great powers: Russia and China, was subjected to brutal genocide.

In 1856, Ch. Valikhanov called the epic “Manas” the steppe “Iliad”. I consider the epic “Manas” to be the Bible of mountains and steppes, and therefore I tried to preserve and biblical motifs, clarify and summarize the parable thoughts of the Great Legend. To the best of his abilities, he tried to preserve the canonical plot of the epic, build the logic of the characters’ behavior and the development of events, and convey the figurative flavor of the Kyrgyz language.

The first, one might say, trial edition of my “Tale of Manas” was published in 2009 in a small edition and immediately went to the people. The Ministry of Science and Education recommended the book as an additional textbook on the epic “Manas”. In Russian academic theater them. Ch. Aitmatov carried out a literary and dramatic production of the same name performed by Kyrgyz actors in Russian.

The second edition of “The Legend” is supplemented by a retrospective preface by Academician B. Yu. Yunusaliev, at the end of the book there is a scientific summary by Professor G. N. Khlypenko. Undoubtedly, the works of famous Kyrgyz scientists will complement readers’ knowledge about outstanding masterpiece Kyrgyz people.

I hope that the Russian text of “The Tale of Manas” will become the basis for translating the Kyrgyz epic into other languages ​​and that our legendary hero will rush along the equator of the globe.

Good journey to you, my valiant Manas!

Mar Baydzhiev.

The Kyrgyz people have the right to be proud of the richness and diversity of oral poetic creativity, the pinnacle of which is the epic “Manas”. Unlike the epics of many other peoples, “Manas” is composed from beginning to end in verse, which once again testifies to the special respect the Kyrgyz people have for the art of versification.

The epic consists of half a million poetic lines and exceeds in volume all known world epics: twenty times the Iliad and the Odyssey, five times the Shahnameh, and more than two times the Mahabharata.

The grandeur of the Manas epic is one of distinctive features epic creativity of the Kyrgyz people. It is explained by a number of significant circumstances, and, above all, by the unique history of the people. Kyrgyz, being one of ancient peoples Central Asia, throughout its centuries-old history, was subject to attacks by the powerful conquerors of Asia: the Khitans (Kara-Khitans) at the end of the 10th century, the Mongols in the 13th century, the Dzungars (Kalmyks) in the 16th–18th centuries. Many state associations and tribal unions fell under their blows, they exterminated entire nations, and their names disappeared from the pages of history. Only the power of resistance, perseverance and heroism could save the Kyrgyz from complete destruction. Each battle was replete with exploits. Courage and heroism became an object of worship, a theme of chanting. From here heroic character Kyrgyz epic poems and the epic "Manas".

As one of the oldest Kyrgyz epics"Manas" represents the most complete and wide artistic display the centuries-old struggle of the Kyrgyz people for their independence, for justice and a happy life.

In the absence of recorded history and written literature, the epic reflected the life of the Kyrgyz people, their ethnic composition, economy, life, customs, morals, aesthetic tastes, ethical standards, his judgments about human dignity and vices, ideas about nature, religious prejudices, language.

To the epic as the most popular work gradually attracted similar ideological content independent fairy tales, legends, epics, poems. There is reason to assume that such episodes of the epic as “Wake for Koketey”, “The Tale of Almambet” and others once existed as independent works.

Many Central Asian peoples have common epics: the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks - “Alpamysh”, the Kazakhs, Turkmens, Uzbeks, Tajiks - “Ker-Ogly”, etc. “Manas” exists only among the Kyrgyz. Since the presence or absence of common epics is associated with the commonality or absence of cultural, historical and geographical conditions during the period of the emergence and existence of the epics, we can come to the conclusion that the formation of the epic among the Kyrgyz took place in different geographical and historical conditions than in Central Asia. Events telling about ancient periods the stories of the Kyrgyz people confirm this. Thus, in the epic we can trace some character traits ancient social formation - military democracy(equality of squad members in the distribution of military spoils, election of military commanders-khans, etc.).

The names of localities, names of peoples and tribes are archaic in nature, proper names of people. The structure of the epic verse is also archaic. By the way, the antiquity of the epic is confirmed in historical information contained in “Majmu at-Tawarikh” - written monument early XVI century, where the story of the heroic exploits of young Manas is considered in connection with the events of the second half of the 14th century.

It is possible that it was originally created and existed in the form of a short prose tale about the heroic deeds of people who heroically saved the people from extermination. Gradually, talented storytellers turned it into an epic song, which then, through the efforts of each generation, grew into a great poem, which included new historical events, new characters, becoming more and more complex in its plot construction.

Moldobaev I.B.

Huge role in cultural life Kyrgyz played oral creativity, the pinnacle of which should be considered the world-famous heroic epic “Manas”. Probably, oral poetry was known to the ancestors of the Kyrgyz since the 3rd century. BC e., when the term “Kyrgyz” became known thanks to Chinese written sources. Since then, Kyrgyz folklore has gradually formed and developed.

Already at the beginning of the 12th century. The Arab author Marvazi noted the presence of improvising singers among the Kyrgyz. And 4 centuries later, in the 16th century, the Tajik-language work “Majmu at-tawarikh” (“Collected Stories”) included individual episodes from the epic “Manas”. Kyrgyz folklore is multi-genre, among which the epic “Manas” plays a prominent role. It is necessary to distinguish between 2 concepts of epic. In a narrow sense, this is actually the epic “Manas”. In a broad sense, by the epic “Manas” we mean the trilogy “Manas”, “Semetey”, “Seytek”. The epic "Manas" consists of several hundred thousand poetic lines and exceeds in volume all known epic works world, which is one of its distinctive features. The development of the epic led to genealogical cyclization and continuations of the trilogy about the descendants of Seitek appeared.

“Manas” is performed by storytellers – manaschi. The first storyteller is considered to be Yramandyn yrchy uulu, one of the characters in the epic. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. entire groups and various storytelling schools of masters are known artistic word. Such outstanding manaschi as S. Orozbakov and S. Karalaev have survived to this day.

The first samples of records and studies of the epic were left to us in the middle. XIX century Ch. Valikhanov and V. Radlov. V. Radlov was the first in the world to publish the text of the trilogy of the epic “Manas” in a short thesis form in 1885 in Kyrgyz and German languages. To date, over 60 complete and incomplete versions and recordings of the epic are stored in the manuscript collections of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic. The bibliography of literature about Manas covers the period 1849-1960. Publications were added to this after 1960, although most of them are newspaper and magazine works.

The epic “Manas” has not lost its relevance in our time. Available theatrical performances, manaschi competitions are held. Best options The epic has been published, although it has not yet been published in full. But its significance also lies in the fact that it contains information on history, ethnography, philosophy, language, diplomacy, military affairs, folk pedagogy and many other aspects of the life of the Kyrgyz people. Let us turn only to the historical and ethnographic data of “Manas”.

Elements can be traced through the epic political system. "Manas" is an important source for studying issues ethnic history and ethnocultural ties of the Kyrgyz, as evidenced by more than a hundred ethnonyms mentioned in it. The names of such peoples as Shibee (Shivey), Solon, Kara Kytai, Manzhu, Naiman and others reflected in its lines speak of actual early contacts of the Kyrgyz. Judging by the epic, the Kyrgyz had ethnic and cultural relationships with the peoples of Siberia, including the Tungus-Manchu, Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Southern Urals, North Caucasus, Crimea and other adjacent territories.

“Manas” captured in its lines information about the economy and trade of the Kyrgyz people. It mentions almost all the routes of the Great Silk Road. This is supported by the epic's mention of many names of fabrics, including various silk fabrics. And torgun and tubar are directly called Chinese silk. In addition, the names of various precious stones, gold and silver products, found in it, are also real fact acquaintance of Kyrgyz people with the Great Road.

The epic contains extensive information about the culture of the Kyrgyz. Partially material culture the types of dwellings, various clothes, horse equipment, food, etc. are of interest. The epic’s message on military affairs, weapons and combat clothing deserves special attention. "Manas" contains extensive information on spiritual culture, folk knowledge (especially folk medicine) myths, religious beliefs, folk games and entertainment, musical instruments etc.

Thus, the epic tells about three world religions, including the Nestorian Christians, who are called Tarsa. Among the data on games reported by Manas, Kuresh wrestling and martial arts deserve attention. In the epic, we identified information about about 20 different musical instruments.

Speaking about the time of the composition of the epic “Manas”, we are inclined to believe that it poetic text reflected in artistic form 7 periods in the history of the Kyrgyz, starting from the time the term “Kyrgyz” was mentioned and ending with the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, the main core of the epic took shape during the period associated with the aggression of the Kara Kytays in the 10th century. Manas himself is a collective image.

Thus, the epic “Manas” tells that the Kyrgyz passed difficult path. Their ethnocultural history did not take place in isolation, but in close connection with Central Asian, South Siberian and other civilizations. It is the property of not only Kyrgyz, but also world epic culture.