I.M. Dyussekeneva1, D.N. Dyussekenev2
1Shakarim State University of Semey, Semey, Kazakhstan, indiradyusekeneva@mail.ru
2Specialized male boarding school-lyceum “Zhas-Ulan” named after Sh. Ualikhanov for gifted children, Semey, Kazakhstan, dyusekenev81@mail.ru
POETICS OF ETHNOCULTURAL DETAILS IN THE NOVEL “KHAN KENE»
BY I. YESENBERLIN
Ethnocultural detail is an important component of the poetics of artistic text. The article discusses the artistic functions of ethnocultural details on the material of the work of the Kazakh historical prose of the 60s of the twentieth century — Ilyas Esenberlin’s “Khan Kene” novel. On the example of such works ethnocultural education is carried out. Ethnocultural education is aimed at developing ethnocultural competence, at fostering culture of international communication, at the ability to express one’s attitude to the world around us in various types of artistic activities. When analyzing the poetics of ethnocultural details on the example of the novel “Khan Kene” by I. Yesenberlin, we conclude that ethnocultural details in works of art act as a kind of transmission of socio-historical and artistic-aesthetic experience, allow many subjects to meet in the world of culture, regardless of the time of their stay.
Key words: ethnocultural detail, ethnocultural education, historical novel
INTRODUCTION
Each ethnos is characterized by a common culture. In the work “Ethnocultural vocabulary of the Kazakh language” E. Zhanpeisov writes in detail about this: “The main bearer of ethnic properties, the ethnic layer of culture in general are everyday consciousness, everyday language and traditional household culture” [1, 3].
It is known that the daily life, customs, traditions, craft (formed in the national consciousness and needs), culture of any people living on earth for centuries, describes the material world inherent in it (dishes, clothes, tools and labor). To explore this material world means to know the history of a people. «The terms of material culture reflect the most important aspect of human activity — the production of material goods (food, clothing and housing)» [2, 192].
Ethnocultural details in one way or another reflect the peculiarities of the life of the described culture. Ethnocultural detail includes the realities recorded in the dictionaries; lexical units of a wide sphere of use, which in a certain historical epoch received an additional connotative meaning, not recorded in the dictionary, but known to native speakers; lost meanings of multiple words; stable expressions, proverbs and sayings, which include words denoting phenomena and concepts that are characteristic only of a given culture. It should also not be forgotten that in the text of a literary work there may be whole passages devoted to the description of the traditions and phenomena of the original culture, or hints and references to certain customs and practices. It is worth emphasizing that the object of research is only those elements of the text of a work of art that have functional significance, that is, which play an important role for the reader in the text, help to form an idea of the epoch, character, and morals. If one ignores these details, the images will be inaccurate, some of the content may not be understood by the reader, some details explaining the behavior of the characters will be lost.
The study of the functions of reality in an artistic text deserves special attention. In an artistic text, language and culture are closely related, since the text always reflects information about the world and the culture of people living in a certain area, in a certain era and in certain historical conditions. All these factors, captured in the artistic text, are a reflection of various socio-cultural and psychological factors expressed through realities. By realia, it is commonly understood “units of the national language, denoting unique referents characteristic of this linguistic culture and absent in the compared linguocultural community” [3, 251].
The ethnocultural coloring of any artistic work is a specific characteristic of the text, which is expressed in images that reflect the material situation and the social conditions of the people (for example, through the character and actions of the characters). Consideration of the problem of national color is closely related to the content as well as the form of the literary work in its national conditionality, in its connection with the life of the people, reflected in the images, and with the language of the people, embodying these images” [4, 115].
The aim of the work is to study the poetics of ethnocultural detail, its functions in the Kazakh historical prose of the 1960s on the example of the artistic functions of ethnocultural details in the historical novel “Khan Kene” by I. Yesenberlin, thus promoting ethnocultural upbringing of younger generation.
The objective is to identify the function of ethnocultural details in the text of a given literary work.
Research methods:
— encyclopedic method, i.e. the study of the meaning of the word in close connection with the objects and phenomena that they represent;
— cultural approach, acquaitance with the culture of the studied ethnic group.
MAIN PART
Discussion
The choice of this work is not accidental. The novel can rightly be considered the encyclopedia of the life of the Kazakhs of the Khan period. Ilyas Esenberlin is the most read prose writer in Kazakhstan. In the works of Ilyas Esenberlin, we find a reflection on the epochal events of both the historical past and our time. The story of the writer is inseparable from the fate of a person, a particular person. “Khan Kene” is the third book of the trilogy “Nomads” of the Kazakh writer Ilyas Esenberlin, translated by M. Simashko, G. Sadovnikov. This is a broad epic canvas that recreates the history of the Kazakh people from the 15th century to the middle of the nineteenth century. The considered work is thoroughly permeated with ethnocultural details.
“Khan Kene” (1969) is the first experience of Ilyas Esenberlin in the genre of a historical novel. It was this work that earned the writer the warm recognition of thousands of readership. This is evidenced by letters addressed to I. Esenberlin and now stored in his archive. The author refers to one of the tragic pages of the history of the Kazakh people, recreating the image of Khan Kene.
The first type of artistic details on which we dwell is the ethnocultural details in the portrait description. The artistic portrait of the character plays an important role in creating the image of the hero of a literary work; its unique individuality is made up of individual artistic details. Even in the most ancient folk forms, an attempt was made to name the most general portrait impression about a person, which has come down to us in constant epithets in which you can see some poetic “grain” of the portrait genre. The picturesque comparisons that convey the ethnocultural colouring are associated with the word “herd”: “After all, these are the Kazakhs. They look like a herd of many thousands and poorly manageable herds. Such a herd rushes along the steppe and can carry away everything in its path. But if the enemy catches that one, familiar to experienced herdsmen, moment and in the right place will frighten it, then the herd will go back astray. Then you can’t stop it with anything: neither by persuasion, nor by whipping” [5, 164]. In the following example, the word “herd” also conveys the meaning “people”: “- Changing the native land is like a sick horse with a sap … In order not to get the herd infected, you must get rid of it” [5, 182]. A striking comparison is made by the author, comparing the jealousy of the stallion and Aga-Sultan Konur-Kuldzhi: “You can understand the jealousy of the stallion guarding his herd … — It was Seyten who started talking about Konur-Kulja, which benefited from the policy of the tsarist government, which has long been aimed at the division of the Kazakh tribes» [5, 14]. The word “herd”, used in proverb by one of the characters of the novel, was used in the literal meaning: “Konur-Kuldzha was no exception and quickly began to forget Zeynep’s misconduct. “A deep lake will not be stirred up by a whole herd, so whether it will become dirty from the pranks of a single yearling!” [5, 198].
Kulans — “… Now is the time to go inside, save your head on your shoulders … Whoever it is, of course … Now you won’t gather Kazakhs into one people. Like kulans, they dispersed throughout the steppe and the leaders are jealous of their herds to each other. Maybe the time will come when their power will weaken … — Yes, that’s the whole difference between us. You think your native people are kulans, and as for me they are steppe eagles … Tastes differ. The crow affectionately calls the fledgling crow one “my little white!”, and the hedgehog calls its hedgehoglet “my soft one” [5, 32]. Such is the argument between batyr Seyten and traitor Ozhar. Figurative comparisons with the use of ethnocultural details convey vivid expressiveness to the replicas of the acting characters. In their dispute, the reader feels the attitude of each of them to their people.
Horses are an integral part of the life of a nomadic people. In the text, there are often instances of the use of the word “argamak” — pedigreed racers, whose owners were only few ones. A figurative description of argamaks is given by I. Yesenberlin: “Grey argamaks of Zholaman-batyr, known throughout the steppe, overtook the wind, snapping with teeth swift-winged birds on the fly. So they were said about in the steppe, and it was true” [5, 51]; “From one time you can count sheep and goats, and among the horses walking in the gorges most are lean, with raised belly, fighting argamaks” [5, 103]; “It was an enviable matchmaking, and her parents gladly accepted as a deposit three herds of the famous Khan’s dark grey argamaks” [5, 117]. “Does not the twenty thousand best argamaks of dark and light colour graze in his herds, which any Esengeldy or Sarzhan never dreamed of?” [5, 133]. “- It is better to be an argamak with a heart torn from a race than to trudge through the life as a pitiful nag! — said Kenesary then. — No, I will fight to the last breath, and let the descendants judge us, whatever they will be …” [5, 232]. In the following example, we find details that mirror and reflect the culture of two nations: Kazakh and Russian: “- We already thought that we had stolen everything from the poor fellow up to the last foal, and then suddenly they say that only on a distant island, in Esil, another three thousand white, like Russian sugar, argamaks graze ”[5, 175].
Also the names of other animals appear in the text. Often they are used in the portrait characteristics of the characters of the work. The portrait description is syncretic, which indicates the versatility of the artistic portrait. This, as indicated by S.M. Blatova, a pictorial function (a certain impression of the hero’s appearance, character, behavior), a characterological function (according to external features, conclusions can be drawn about the character of the hero — physiognomy), evaluation function (manifest explicit and hidden author’s assessment, expressed in the comments or the tonality of the description, sympathy or antipathy of the author); psychological function (through the appearance of the character reveals the inner world, mood, psychological state); aesthetic function (the character’s appearance is assessed from the point of view of aesthetic criteria) [6, 35-36].
Comparison with the beauty of the eyes of camels is quite common in the mentality of the Kazakh people. Similar comparison is also found in Ilyas Esenberlin: “Yes, it was Akboken, and it was impossible to make a mistake. The glare of the moon glowed on a slightly oblong white face, and calmly looked large and black, like a camel’s eyes” [5, 53]. In the descriptions of male characters, we find other pillars of the description of the portrait and character. The comparison with the eagle, which, as known, personifies strength and will, is conducted by I. Esenberlin. But the eagle in this context is deprived of freedom, just like the young Nauryzbai batyr: “He looks like a young eagle chained to his stand, the batyr Nauryzbai. His rope is made of stern silk, and it is in vain to scream, try to free the bound legs… ” [5, 122]. With the steppe prey bird, the golden eagle, the writer draws a parallel in the description of Kenesary, emphasizing his sharp, ruthless gaze:
“Here and I would not have guessed to be so cautious! “As long as Keneke is alive, will you forget this science … He has eyes are of a golden eagle with red veins …” [5, 157]. A very different picture is drawn by I. Esenberlin, describing the state of Kasym-tore after the news of the death of two sons: “Now he has become like an emaciated ram, whose hair is coming off in dag-lock. He became a decrepit, helpless old man at once, and only in the eyes of him some remnants of former bitterness and fierceness had petrified” [5, 125]. In the following statement, even rather a maxim, Kenesary opposes the tiger and the ram, as a symbol of courage and pride, on the one hand, and cowardice, submissiveness, on the other, impersonating himself with the tiger: «- Tiger is not a ram! .. Let it not ancestors say that I dutifully bowed my head, like the sons of Aishuak, Kudaimende, Zhantore or Vali. Ablay’s blood is in me, and honor is dearer to me than life!” [5, 230]. And the writer compares the Tashkent ruler of Begderbek’s kushbegi with a cobra: “Some kind of white-grey was his beard, and his keen, bright eyes gazing at the interlocutor stroke with intimidating, inhuman coldness. It was the coldness of a cobra preparing for the throw” [5, 77].
External features of the hero’s appearance complement domestic ethnocultural details, more precisely, details of clothes. I. Esenberlin carefully describes the costumes of the characters, immersing the reader in those days. Thus, the costume not only carries a meaning in the transfer of the character of the hero, but also reflects historical reality.
So I. Esenberlin in the novel “Khan Kene” gives a detailed description of the clothing of the Tabyn kindred: “On the heads of men there are large caps embroidered with patterns of light camel hair, with curved edges. Malakhais are also of special cut, velvet, trimmed with fur, lined with felt. They have a very high top, like a standing upright sleeve, and six gilded stripes are sewn on it from the base to the top. Edges of the hem and the collars of soft coats painted in juniper color are also embroidered with patterns and decorated with tassels. Under them are woolen chekmen, bloomers from foal-skin, high-heeled boots on the legs” [5, 34-35]. And further, the author gives a description of women’s clothing of the tabyn kindred: “Women’s clothing differs little from SaryArka’s. Camisoles and caftans are also trimmed with gold and silver, their hats are trimmed with imported Siberian sable. These are all the same saukele hats: high, cone-shaped, decorated with coins, with magnificent feathers of an eagle owl at the top. Long calico and velvet dresses with double hems are also hung with silver coins. Over the dresses — thin homespun or velvet, pulled at the waist, camisoles and beshmet. The more affluent ones have gold rings, pearl necklaces, massive gold and silver bracelets on their wrists, old earrings from great-grandmothers, in their ears. But, unlike the Middle Zhuz, some women of Younger Zhuz instead of white calico kimeshek put kungeylik — a kind of embroidered silk hat, also topped with feathers owl, and girls wear tight fitting silver belts and takiya with feathers — a kind of skullcap «[5, 35]. The author does not accidentally give such a detailed description of clothes at the beginning of the novel: it is easier for the reader to imagine the appearance of the Kazakhs of that time, to immerse into the everyday life of that era, since before Esenberlin there were practically no literary works on the history of the Kazakh people. We also find a description of the costume of neighboring peoples, for example, Uzbek: “On kushbegi only a striped robe from Samarkand satin and a black velvet skullcap bordered with small white coral were Uzbek” [5, 77].
The aesthetic function of the costume is traced by the example of the description of the costume emphasizing the beauty of the heroine of the novel “Khan Kene” Akboken: “The dark Altai sable on the hat, topped with tall feathers, set off the face. The velvet beshmet was silvered on a high chest and at a thin waist, because she threw off her fur” [5, 53-54].
The costume also conveys the social status of its owner. Rich costume indicates a high position of the hero. Ilyas Esenberlin emphasizes the nobility, the high position of Kenesary’s elder wife, Kunimzhan: “And she is dressed in such a way that it is impossible to take your eyes off. It is as if a bright maroon chapan trimmed with the finest fabric, trimmed with sable, is thrown onto a plush blue gilt camouflage, as if casually thrown over. White pearl beads shower red-velvet coneshaped saukele — a headdress of noble women in the steppe” [5, 114]. The clothes of the warriors have a different function and are distinguished by simplicity and convenience: “The batyr Shubyrtpaly-Agibay was dressed in a spacious homespun caftan of coarse black wool, the same hood on his head, and trousers of dark foal skin” [5, 89].
CONCLUSION
Thus, the considered work contains many examples of the use of ethnocultural details, and it is they, to a certain extent, make the work original, give it a unique national flavor, most accurately convey the way of life of ethnic groups inhabiting Central Asia and Kazakhstan, cultural and historical relationships, traditional features of everyday culture of peoples forming together with the language their specific, ethnic appearance.
The study of ethno-cultural details in the historical works of Kazakh literature allows getting acquainted with the culture, way of life and history of people; brings up feelings of patriotism, respect for other nationalities. Each individual is obliged to realize the responsibility and contribute to the preservation of the national culture, history, and, learning the lessons of the past, worthily start tomorrow.
REFERENCES
1 Zhanpejіsov E. Jetnokul’turnaja leksika kazahskogo jazyka [Ethnocultural vocabulary of the Kazakh language]. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1989. – 283 p.
2 Nasipov I. S. Finno-ugorskie zaimstvovanija v bytovoj leksike tatarskogo jazyka [FinnoUgric borrowing in the everyday vocabulary of the Tatar language]// Uchen. zap. Kazan. un-ta. Ser. Gumanit. nauki. – 2009, N 151. – S. 190–198.
3 Kubrjakova, E.S. Jazyk i znanie: Na puti poluchenija znanij o jazyke: chasti rechi s kognitivnoj tochki zrenija: Rol’ jazyka v poznanii mira [Language and Knowledge: Towards Knowledge of a Language: Parts of Speech from a Cognitive Point of View: The Role of Language in Knowledge of the World]. – M.: Jazyki slavjanskoj kul’tury, 2004. – 560 p.
4 Vajsburd, M.L. Realii kak jelement stranovedenija [Realia as an element of country studies] // Rus. jaz. za rubezhom. – М., 1972. – 230 p.
5 Esenberlin I. Khan Kene: Novel. Translation from Kazakh by M. Simashko, G. Sadovnikov [Han Kene:]. — Astana: Audarma, 2009. – 568 p.
6 Blatova S.M. The poetics of artistic detail in the genre structure of the story (on the material of the modern Kazakhstan prose). Diss. cand. philol. s. [Pojetika hudozhestvennoj detali v zhanrovoj strukture rasskaza (na materiale sovremennoj kazahstanskoj prozy)], Almaty, 2010. – 151 p.
И.М. Дюсекенева1, Д.Н. Дюсекенев2
И. Есенберлиннің «Қаһар» романындағы этномәдени детальдардың поэтикасы 1Шәкәрім атындағы Семей мемлекеттік университеті, Семей, Қазақстан
2 Дарынды балаларға арналған Ш. Уәлиханов атындағы «Жас Ұлан» арнайы ерлер мектеп-лицей-интернаты Алтай мемлекеттік педагогикалық университетінің аспиранті, Барнаул, Ресей
Этномәдени детальдар — көркем мәтіннің поэтиканың маңызды құрамдас бөлігі. ХХ ғасырдың 60-шы жылдарындағы қазақтың тарихи прозасының Ильяс Есенберлиннің «Қаһар» романындағы этномәдени мәліметтердің көркемдік функцияларын қарастырады. Мұндай жұмыстардың мысалында этномәдени тәрбие жүргізілуде. Этномәдени білім беру этномәдени құзыреттілікті дамытуға, халықаралық қарым-қатынас мәдениетін қалыптастыруға, айналадағы әлемге әр түрлі көркемдік іс-әрекеттерде өз көзқарасын білдіруге мүмкіндік береді. И.Есенберлиннің «Қаһар» романында этномәдени детальдардың поэзиясын талдай отырып, өнер туындыларындағы этномәдени детальдар әлеуметтіктарихи және көркем-эстетикалық тәжірибе берудің көптеген түрлеріне айналады, көптеген тақырыптардың мәдениет әлемінде кездесетініне мүмкіндік береді.
И.М. Дюсекенева1, Д.Н. Дюсекенев2
Поэтика этнокультурных деталей в романе И. Есенберлина «Хан Кене»
1Государственный университет имени Шакарима г. Семей, Казахстан 2Специализированная мужская школа-лицей-интернат «Жас Улан» имени Ш. Уалиханова для одаренных детей, г. Семей, Казахстан, аспирант Алтайского государственного педагогического университета, Барнаул, Российская Федерация
Этнокультурная деталь является важным компонентом поэтики художественного текста. В статье рассматриваются художественные функции этнокультурной детали на материале произведения казахской исторической прозы 60-х годов ХХ в. – романа Ильяса Есенберлина «Хан Кене». На примере подобных произведений осуществляется этнокультурное воспитание. Этнокультурное воспитание направлено на развитие этнокультурной компетентности, на воспитание культуры межнационального общения, на способность выражать свое отношение к окружающему миру в разных видах художественной деятельности. В ходе анализа поэтики этнокультурной детали на примере романа «Хан Кене» И. Есенберлина приходим к выводу, что этнокультурные детали в художественных произведениях выступают своего рода каналами передачи социальноисторического и художественно-эстетического опыта, позволяют встретиться в мире культуры многим субъектам, независимо от времени их проживания.