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170
CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE,
PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
Volume: 02 Issue: 05 | May 2021
ANIMISTIC AND TOTEMISTIC VIEWS IN THE WORKS OF
CHINGIZ AITMATOV
Nasiba Abdullaeva
Doctor of Philosophy
Professor of the Department of "Fundamentals of Philosophy and Spirituality"
of the National University of Uzbekistan
Received 29
nd
April 2021, Accepted 15
th
April 2021, Online 25
th
May 2021
Abstract:
In the early religious ideas, a
specific interpretation of the nature surrounding man,
the laws of his appearance and development, was
given. In the works of Chingiz Aitmatov, the unity of
man and nature is expressed in folk philosophy and
in the means of universal values. Through
animalistic images, the writer tries to immerse in the
imagination of every person deep knowledge about
the world of animals and plants, teaches that without
the world of plants and animals, a person can not
live, nature is not created only for people, but also to
respect it as a universal independent value outside of
society.
Keywords
nature, religious beliefs, animism,
totemism, shamanism, value
I.
Introduction
It is well known that the first religious
notions arose on the basis of his notions of
supernatural forces, natural phenomena, which were
more powerful than man himself. The first
manifestations of religion, such as animism,
fetishism, shamanism, witchcraft, which emerged
during the formation of the seed system, left a great
mark on the cultural life of mankind, although some
aspects have survived to this day. Religions based on
totemistic, animistic notions, worshiping sorcerers,
shamans, or tribal chiefs from their own lineage,
have permeated national religions and world
religions. For example, sacrifices to the spirits of
deceased
ancestors,
deification,
almsgiving,
mourning the dead, and lighting candles are
animistic rituals.
Animism is also reflected in world religions
as a necessary element of any religion - the spirits of
ancestors, the souls of living people, a living
manifestation of the forces of nature. Animism,
which grew out of man's primitive ideas about the
soul, signifies the belief in the existence of the soul
of any being, whether plant, animal, or human, and
has survived in small nations living in different
corners of the world with this ancient way of life.
At the same time, the traditions and
ceremonies of honoring and remembering the
ancestors, the methods of shamanism to return the
soul to the div are still practiced by them today.
The history of the first religious views of the
peoples of Central Asia is also associated with
totemistic views. These views were manifested
through the sanctification of animals. Assuming that
certain groups of people are descended from an
animal species is the essence of totemistic views. For
example, wolves, deer, and eagles were the main
CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
Volume: 02 Issue: 05 | May 2021
,
ISSN: 2660-6828
© 2021, CAJLPC, Central Asian Studies, All Rights Reserved
137
totems of the Turkic peoples. They are known as the
founder and patron of certain tribes.
II.
Main part
Elements of totemism are still reflected in the
customs, beliefs, traditions and ceremonies of many
nations. Early religious ideas became a rich source
for art as well. This can also be observed in fiction
through the work of world writers. Shamanism,
totemism and animalistic images also play an
important role in the works of the philosopher and
writer Chingiz Aitmatov, who became a universal
phenomenon with the ideas of the power of the
human intellect, humanity and humanity. The
philosophical,
psychological,
poetic
and
methodological problems, moral and aesthetic issues
of the great writer's legacy are studied in several
fields. At the same time, it is necessary to analyze
totemism, animistic views, animalistic images in the
works of the writer.
In the works of the author, the universe,
nature and man are a single, integral whole and are
organically connected with each other. Chingiz
Aitmatov sought answers to the eternal questions of
life through animalistic images and brought new
images and emblems to the literature. After all,
nature is an important source for the formation of
true human feelings, including a sense of beauty. In
Aitmatov's works, the representatives of the wild
world - wolves, tigers, foxes - skillfully highlight the
characteristics of their species.
The “Oq kema” is one of the author's most
beautiful stories. The protagonist is a boy "seven
years old and eight steps". Nature adorns the
childhood world of a child deprived of pare
ntal love, fills his heart with joy. He talks to
“cunning”, “good” and “bad” and even “cunning”
stones, “beloved”, “brave”,”cowardly” and “evil”
herbs. A drowning “fat camel” - a yellow fat camel
does not pass without rubbing the stone. “Shiroljin's
loyal friend can find a good shelter under Shiroljin,
especially when he wants to cry secretly when
something goes wrong.”
Nature is a friend of the boy, he tells his
deepest dreams to nature, wants to turn into a fish
and swim to a white ship, find the sailor's father and
tell him about the mountains where he lives, the river
and the unique forest.
The legend told by his grandfather about the
mother deer teaches the child to understand that man
is a part of nature. Sadly, his grandfather, who had
lost the trials of life, sacrificed his mother deer for
his unfortunate daughter and granddaughter. The sick
child trembles as he looks into the deer's dim eyes
and is distressed by his grandfather's helplessness.
All the hopes of the child, who lived in the midst of
pure dreams and firmly believed in the myth of the
mother deer, were shattered.
“No, I'll be a fish, I'll sail from here. I'd rather
be a fish.”His only salvation is a white ship that
wants to turn into a fish and swim towards it, and it
falls into the river and the water starts to rise. He
escapes from the stony people and makes his way to
the bosom of Mother Nature.
The main idea stated by the author is that the
killing of the first ancestral totem animal leads to the
loss of divine patronage. Telling the legend to his
grandson, the grandfather hopes that the horned
mother deer will return to the forests of Issyk-Kul
after forgiving them and their children. The motive
of killing a totem animal reaches its peak in the
motive of a child’s suicide. The death of a child, in a
metaphorical sense, means the death of the future of
humanity. Through the tragic fate of the child, the
writer represents a rebellion against spiritual
depravity. The story of the “Oq kema” is one of the
most beautiful works of the author, dedicated to the
interpretation of purity and justice, bloodshed and its
moral roots, national traditions and human values.
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Volume: 02 Issue: 05 | May 2021
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ISSN: 2660-6828
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138
In the great work of the author, “Qiyomat”
suggests that the doomsday, which occurs due to the
violation of nature, is both for society and for nature.
In the past, Akbara and Toshchaynar did not even
have a kitchen to live in. In connection with the
opening of a road to a unique mine in the mountain,
a complete fire was set on the reedbed where their
nest was located, as a result of which five wolf cubs
died. After Akbara and Toshchaynar fled to the
mountains, four wolf cubs who were born here were
again kidnapped by a man. It can be said that the
savages, led by Ober-Kandalov, are killing not only
saigas in order to make wax money, and others are
destroying nature, but also the apocalypse of
spiritual-communicative qualities.
The
fate
of
Avdiy
Kalisratov,
who
encouraged those who had lost their spiritual image
to follow the right path and set their destiny on this
path, is also tragic. His encounter with the wolves
and his survival showed that man and the beast were
compared, that man was more savage than he was.
The fact that he did not touch the human race that
killed so many of his children also has a peculiar
philosophical meaning.
The image of the wolf is widespread in the
mythology and folklore of Eastern and Western
peoples. In particular, the blue-eyed wolf in the
mythology of the Turkic peoples is the ancestor of
the Turkic tribes. The Turkish legend is based on the
motive of the wolf kidnapping the child in the novel:
The wolf who has lost his child does not accept
Kenjesh as a human being, he sees the child as a part
of nature, wants to give him the love he could not
give to his children. In the novel, the female wolf
Akbara turns to the Mother Wolf, the patron of
wolves, seeking refuge from cruel people.
In the story “Alvido Gulsari”, the image of a
gray goat is a symbol of the legendary goat, which in
Kyrgyz means the patron saint of wild animals, ie
fertility, fertility. In the art world of Chingiz
Aitmatov, animals are depicted in an organic
connection
with
nature
and
man,
having
psychological characteristics, their own individual
destiny.
In Aitmatov's works, shamanism can be
traced back to the earliest religious ideas. It is known
that the Kyrgyz have long been a nomadic, pastoral
people. At the age of five or six, Chingiz Aitmatov
crossed the pass with his fellow villagers. It is during
this migration that a shaman heals Chingiz when he
has a toothache. Chingiz Aitmatov ordered the
shaman, who was wearing a hat made of various
pictures and strange clothes, to drive everyone out of
the grass. begins to say. Genghis's toothache stops,
and he sees even thinner white worms - tooth worms
- falling from his mouth, from the hair strands
moving among the stones. This vivid picture shows
that while the Kyrgyz believed in Islam, they still did
not abandon the ancient shamanic traditions, and
continued to practice them.
The
author's
work
“Sohil
yoqalab
chopayotgan” reflects the attitude of the northern
peoples to nature and worldview. In the play, the
shamans praise the mother fish-mermaid, who gave
birth to the people of the tribe, “the shaman begs the
young hunter to always be kind and compassionate
to the Earth and the water Let the wise shaman
remember again, “The Great Mother prays for more
fish to be born and for generations to be added to her
generation.” In the animistic views of the northern
peoples, nature was not conceived of as divine, its
phenomena were not worshiped, but nature was
conceived as humanized as living. Understanding the
world through ecological, moral norms is manifested
in a taboo based on fear of natural phenomena. That
is why from childhood he treats nature with fear and
anxiety.
The ideological and artistic power of
Aitmatov's works is reflected in the fact that the
unity of man and nature is expressed through
CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
Volume: 02 Issue: 05 | May 2021
,
ISSN: 2660-6828
© 2021, CAJLPC, Central Asian Studies, All Rights Reserved
139
international philosophy and universal values. In the
works of the writer, nature is not only created for
human beings, it teaches them to respect it as a
universal independent value outside of society. The
author illustrates this with the following example.
“We went to the Brussels-Luxembourg-Trier-
Kovpets-Frankfurt highway. During the day and
night, six rows of cars from different directions fly
along this road. Hundreds of miles of solid iron
barriers were erected on both sides of the road. The
concrete road like a ribbon crosses mountains, fields,
forests, lakes. The animals left on either side of the
road were deprived of the opportunity to meet each
other. The law of the integrity of nature is violated.
What have people come up with to solve this
problem? One special bridge is built for every ten
miles of the road: deer, wild boars, rabbits,
scorpions, snakes pass through it. In our country, let
alone animals, even the construction of beautiful
suspension bridges for people to cross is an
unattainable dream. When we went to one of those
strange bridges with the filmmakers, I said, “This is a
shining example of the victory of humanity over
selfishness.” - Nature should be respected in this
way.
Growing up in a place where Zoroastrianism
was formed, it is natural that the writer's views on
nature are nourished by the heritage of his ancestors.
The attention to the world of water, bread, animals
and plants in the Avesto is deeply rooted in the blood
of our ancestors. So don’t spit in the water, don’t
throw away the bread, don’t hurt the animals. The
Holy Qur'an and Hadith also emphasize compassion
for every creature created by Allah.
In almost all of his works, the writer shows
such moral qualities and vices as loyalty, kindness,
betrayal, anger through the events of the mother deer,
the mother camel, the mother wolf, the old man
Gulsari. The scenes of life in the image of Chingiz
Aitmatov not only touch the delicate threads of the
human heart, but also feel the suffering of the heroes
of the work. The condition of the mother wolf,
Gulsari, disturbs the reader, and through the works of
the writer places empathy and feelings for all beings
in the heart of the reader.
Nature has been and will continue to be a
source of inexhaustible forms for all art forms. The
visual aids in it help to imagine its connection with
nature, to be imprinted in the minds of young people.
After all, respect for nature means respect for the
Motherland, the land where you were born and
raised. This means that man must follow the laws of
ecological balance of Mother Nature, the advanced
norms that reflect it, including the masterpieces of
folk wisdom, at the level of faith.
The development of nature, a person who
deeply understands its laws, appreciates life,
contributes to its well-being. The well-being of
human life is directly related to nature. The works of
Chingiz Aitmatov not only arouse admiration and
pleasure, but also excite the soul, enrich the spiritual
world, encourage love of nature, and make empathy
a spiritual criterion. The power and vitality of the
author's work lies in the loveful depiction of the
customs, way of life, customs and traditions, values
of the people in harmony with nature.
In the works, the unity of reality, myth and
reality is reflected in the artistic image in animistic
images and emblems.
Chingiz Aitmatov's works are nourished by
centuries-old pearls, inspired by the nature of the
desert, the spirit of the people who have lived side by
side with their creatures for thousands of years, so
nature feels alive, precious and close to man.
In the play, Aitmatov describes the essence of
goodness in a variety of ways: in close connection
with the divine philosophical, humanistic principles.
The contradictions of nature-society-human
life-joy and sorrow, freedom and oppression in
artistic generalizations are also one of the leading
CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
Volume: 02 Issue: 05 | May 2021
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ISSN: 2660-6828
© 2021, CAJLPC, Central Asian Studies, All Rights Reserved
140
themes of literature. Poets and writers masterfully
and skillfully describe similar natural phenomena
that ordinary people cannot see or feel.
Nurturing a love for nature and a proper
perception of the beauty of nature requires
knowledge of nature itself. Both the poet and the
scientist have always felt in their works that man is
connected with nature. It is the intricate influence of
this connection that has led to the emergence of great
discoveries in the field of science of glorious works
in the field of art, and these feelings improve the
aesthetic taste.
Conclusion
Nurturing a humane attitude towards nature is
especially relevant today. Because if he does not feel
the beauty and uniqueness of every event in nature
from childhood, adolescence, in the future he will not
be a protector of nature, but will become its
destroyer. Through art, humane, moral and spiritual
qualities are formed. The main theme of every work
of art should be the depiction of all aspects of life
around us through the medium of art, the role of man
in nature, the relationship with natural processes, its
connection and connection.
If Chingiz Aitmatov has been acquainted with
nature from the earliest stages of his upbringing, I
can say with confidence that he will not become an
indifferent representative even when he grows up
and enters the embrace of active labor. He will not
need any propaganda about the protection of nature,
about the rational treatment of nature, he will be
spiritually ready for this work. Teaching to care for
and love nature is, in my opinion, one of the most
humane aspects of educating the younger generation
of workers. Through animistic symbols and images,
the author was able to inculcate in the human
observation a deep knowledge of the animal and
plant kingdoms, to show that man could not live
without plants and animals, which are factors in
human self-organization.
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