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4. Barack Obama, (2008). Transcript Of Barack Obama's Victory Speech. November 5, 2008.
THE EPIC POEMS «ALPAMYS» AND «BEOWULF»
AS THE KARAKALPAK AND ENGLISH NATIONAL TREASURES
Nurumbetova G.A.
PhD, Associate Professor
English Language and Literature Department, KarSU named after Berdakh,
Nukus, Uzbekistan
Atabaeva X.
3
rd
year student, English Language and Literature Department,
KarSU named after Berdakh, Nukus, Uzbekistan
Abstract:
Epic poems play a vital role in literature, as their functions are to commemorate struggles and
adventures of kings, to elevate the status of the hero among the audiences, supernatural deeds as well as
highly stylized language. This research was conducted in order to investigate if there were significant
similarities and differences between the epic poems «Beowulf» and «Alpamys». It constitutes a relatively
new area which has emerged from the initial analogy of literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon and Turkic
people. The principal objective is comparing the way the heroes defeat enemies, international and
intercultural aspects and perspectives on tranquility as apparently shown in the poems. Findings of this
study revealed that in terms of the settings and verse forms, «Beowulf» consists of 3,182 alliterative lines,
whereas «Alpamys» consists of 17000 lines. Statistically speaking, the results of analyzing the poems
showed the obvious distinctions between the characteristics of the protagonists and antagonists.
Key words
: commemorate, deed, conduct, analogy, alliterative, distinction, protagonist, antagonist.
Аннотация:
Эпические поэмы играют жизненно важную роль в литературе, поскольку их
функции заключаются в увековечении борьбы и приключений королей, повышении статуса героя
среди зрителей, сверхъестественных деяниях, а также в высокой степени стилизованном языке.
Это исследование было проведено с целью выяснить, существуют ли существенные сходства и
различия между эпическими поэмами «Беовульф» и «Алпамыс». Оно представляет собой
относительно новую область, возникшую в результате первоначальной аналогии литературы и
культуры англосаксонских и тюркских народов. Основная цель – сравнить то, как герои
побеждают врагов, международные и межкультурные аспекты и перспективы безмятежности и
самообладания, как это явно показано в стихотворениях. Результаты этого исследования показали,
что с точки зрения построения и стихотворных форм «Беовульф» состоит из 3182 аллитеративных
строк, тогда как «Алпамыс» состоит из 17000 строк. С точки зрения статистики, результаты
анализа стихотворений показали очевидные различия между характеристиками главных героев и
антагонистов.
Ключевые слова:
память, поступок, поведение, аналогия, аллитерация, различие, главный герой,
антагонист.
In the past few decades there has been a growing interest in the study of analysis epic poetry. For
instance,
«A study in comparison and contrast of Iliad and Ramayana» by Dr. Harmik Vaishnav (2019)
«The inductions of the Odyssey and the Aeneid» (1934) published by the Johns Hopkins
University Press
«A comparative study of the Gilgamesh epic and Genesis» (2006) by Nozomi Osanai.
Research on origins and characteristics of poetry has a long tradition. Epic poetry is an ancient
genre of literature and narrates the stories depicting the mammoth deeds of great kings, help from the
Gods, intrigues, fight of ideas and morals, as well as invincible warriors and their feats. The quotation of
a British poet Lascelles Abercrombie (1881-1938) confirms this: «Epic poetry exhibits life in some great
symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life».
Although there are numerous common aspects in epics, conspicuous conflicting ideas of cultures and
raise questions to the rational mind are shown in poems.
This research will focus on a humble endeavor to compare and contrast of the prominent epic
poems: «Alpamys» as a representative of Western literature and tradition and «Beowulf» as a
representative of Old English literature. They are incredible examples of fighting, triumph and glory
stories both of which involved in heroic events, actions of heroes determine the destiny of the nations.
However, the settings and manuscripts of the poems have obvious dissimilarities. Beowulf set in pagan
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Scandinavia in sixth century, whereas, Alpamys existed in the foothills of the Altay to Syrdarya in sixth
or eighth centuries.
There are the manuscript in British Library, Cotton Vitellius containing the unique copy of the
epic poem «Beowulf» and the first printed copy belonging to Gramur Johnson Thorkelin in 1815.
On the contrary, «Alpamys» was printed no less than 55 times between 1899 and 1984 and the
entry in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia praises the epic as «a national saga of valour, courage and
detestation of the enemies»
These national heritages are the oldest surviving long poems which were originally expressed
orally and were subsequently published. Both of them narrate valiance of the courageous young heroes
understanding their duties and ready to sacrifice their lives for own motherlands.
With regard to the stories of epics, in «Beowulf» the protagonist Beowulf helps the Danish king
Hrothgar whose kingdom is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel and uses his epic strength in
order to kill it. After this victory, Beowulf encounters several battles against Grendel‘s mother attacking
the Danes in revenge, then becoming the king of Geats, he is forced to fight a fiery dragon which plagues
his people on account of stolen treasure. Beowulf manages to defeat the dragon with the help of the loyal
warrior Wiglaf. Nevertheless, he receives a fatal wound and dies.
The epic poem «Alpamys» begins with the argument of the friends Bayburi and Baysari who
engaged their children. Baysari moves to the Kalmyk country with his family. After seven years, at the
age of fourteen, Alpamys begins to achieve his goals, such as, reconciling his father and Baysari and
saving Barshyn from enemies. She attracts the attention of malicious Kalmyk shakh, Taychakkhan and
Kalmyk pakhlavan, Qarajan. Alpamys defeats the opponents with Qarajan in the four contests which
Barchyn declares and together with her Alpamys returns to Kongirat.
In the second part, once he goes to Kalmyk country again so as to bring back Baysary, Alpamys
has to spend seven years in the dungeon of Kalmyk khan. The epic ends with Baysary returning from
voluntary exile and reunification of the previously divided Kongrat tribes under the leadership of heroic
Alpamys.
Comparison:
The two epic poems «Alpamysh» and «Beowulf» have some common features,
such as, dragons, monsters, magic horse and magicians. For instance, Alpamys is the oldest one of heroic
epics in which the mythical and archaic motif prevails. One of the main motives of this is the mysterious
story of the birth of Alpamys Batyr. His parents Baybori and Analyk, who for a long time remains
childless, after a prediction of the seer Baba Shashty Tukty Aziz in a dream become parents of a boy and
give him the name of Alpamys. The couple visit all holy places and cemeteries of the holy men – aulie,
hoping to have a child. Once they see a tomb beside which a tree grows and a creek flows, they decide to
spend the night in that place. We can observe that the communication in a dream of the living and the
dead is the point of contact between the epic and mythical spaces. The representative of the world of
archetypes, the world of the dead, Baba Shashty Tukty Aziz, is a mythologized person. The eternity of the
human soul in the mythological consciousness manifests itself in the fact that the soul of a holy hears the
prayer of the living, empathizes and helps them:
«The only one creator,
He loved his suppliant,
As having generously bestowed,
In addition gave him a daughter.
Eighty-eight patrons, ninety-nine thousand pious men,
He heard all of them»
This is how the epic describes the sacrament of the birth of children [Ayimbetov: 1934].
As the same time, Beowulf was born to be extraordinary. His early heroic deeds involved setting
off into the sea with a friend and being the only one coming back alive. He proves more might in the sea
than any other man and more endurance in the ocean [Heaney: 1999: 14-15].
Besides this, there is a fantastic action, while Beowulf is fighting against Grendel. He kills the
monster with his bare hands and brute strength and these exploits are sung in praise throughout the
kingdoms. «His sinews ripped apart and his bone- frame broke, victory was now given to Beowulf, and
Grendel, sick into his death, went hence and sought his den in the dark moors, that vile abode; he knew
full well that his life had reached its end that the last of his days on earth had come» [Heaney: 1999: 53-
54].
Furthermore, one of the important similarities between the target epic poems is the mythological
character assisting and supporting the heroes, the moment that they encounter challenges and obstacles.
As Alpamys is struggling with Kalmyk pakhlavan, Qarajan, he might be conquered for a while. Just as
Qarajan is going to defeat him, suddenly, Jayilgan Pir appears and then slaps in the back and spits to his
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mouth. As a consequence, Alpamys becomes more energetic and strong. It can be an enormous gift for
him in order to win the victory over his opponent Qarajan.
Similarly, the most compelling example of Beowulf‘s deeds and leadership inspiring someone is
Wiglaf, a young man who is not even among Beowulf‘s group of retainers but becomes the only one
coming to his aid in the fight with the dragon. «Though our Lord, the people‘s protector vowed to us that
he‘d do this deed along, because he had managed the most glory, daring deed of all men, now the day is
coming when our commander has need of strength…» [Heaney: 1999: 2642-2646].
The importance of this speech is that a young outsider is trying to convince Beowulf‘s inner circle
of loyal warriors to aid him because Beowulf is the people‘s protector. Obviously, Wiglaf is appealing to
the retainers‘ sense of loyalty not merely to their king but also to a man who had amassed a history of
«daring deeds».
While examining the analogy of poems, comparing characteristics of the main characters is
considered as one of the most significant circumstances. Resemblance between Beowulf and Alpamys is
that both of them regard friendship as a bond which cannot be broken and a precious thing for human
being. For instance, «Beowulf heard what was happening to Hrothgar and with fourteen boats he came to
save him. Hrothgar was so appreciative of him and ready to help any time» [Heaney: 1999: 13-15].
In the epic «Alpamysh», Kalmyk batyr Qarajan, who is trying to get married Barchyn, turns from
an enemy to a loyal friend of the hero after being defeated by Alpamys in Dagistan. He proves his
faithfulness to Alpamys who prefers becoming a friend to killing him, by means of attending
competitions instead of Alpamys and outrunning all the competitors on Bayshubar and also inform
Barshyn about Alpamys‘s coming to Kalmyk country and longing to bring back her.
Besides this, there are aspects of the world of Beowulf, many of its descriptions inscribed swords,
elaborately decorated royal halls – have been confirmed by modern archaeological discoveries of Anglo-
Saxon life, such as Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard. The poem was careful to get the details right,
and these items play a role by creating a tangible sense of the past, in which weapons and items of
treasure carry with them their own names, legends and history.
Comparing with Beowulf, in «Alpamys» we can see national customs and traditions of peoples of
Central Asia, for example, wedding ceremonies, gathering relations before the wedding, baking bread,
taboo words which are accomplished up to now. In the second part, Alpamys asks some bread from the
women baking bread on «tandir» [Ogiz Jiraw: 1934: 123-125].
Contrast:
One of the distinctions between the epic poems that «Alpamys» is written in syllabic
verse, traditional for Turkic-speaking folk art, interspersed with rhymed prose – saj, consisting of 17000
lines, lyric songs, monologues, humorous stories.
On the contrary, «Beowulf» is composed in Old English consisting 3.182 lines written in the
alliterative verse style and languages, Old High German and Old Saxon: «Heorot trembled, wonderfully
build to withstand the blows, the struggling great bodies beating at its beautiful walls…»
Most of Alpamys‘s heroic actions are devoted to his wife and mother of his son, Yadgar and he
strives to protect her and marry her, whereas, Beowulf has no wife, children and departs this life alone.
Apart from, another contrasting element is antagonists of epics. In «Beowulf» there are three
monsters which represent the envy of resentment of defeated people, death and greed for treasure.
Whilst, in «Alpamys» all of the antagonists are people, not legendary characters like monsters:
Tayshakhan, Ultansaz.
It means that «Beowulf» is linked to fantasy and magic genre.
During the process of analyzing the analogy of the poems, considering talismans of heroes was a
profitable method due to the fact that a talisman is a significant part of heroic stories.
Alpamys‘s talisman is his horse Bayshubar and Beowulf‘s is his sword. The courageous men
ascribe them religious or magical powers intended to protect and be inspired.
The endings of epics is the final dissimilarity, since the epic «Alpamys» possesses an upbeat
ending, Alpamys lives with his family a long and happy life, however, «Beowulf» is a tragedy, after
ruling his kingdom in peace for 50 years, the protagonist dies during the battle with a dragon.
As a sum of this analysis we can say that two of the prominent epic poems «Alpamys» and
«Beowulf» have been read and analyzed by many generations. This shows the literary greatness
accompanied by literary elements, craftsmanship, preaching, immortal characters. This research was
conducted with help of the effective methods, such as, archival method, literature research methodology,
questionnaires including reading both epics, comparing details and the research and opinions of the
writers.
There is a wide tendency to compare literary influence, cultural points of view, the main themes
of poems which inspires readers to learn and master sufficiently the various aspects of the epics.
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REFERENCES:
1. Ayimbetov Q. The version of Ogiz Jiraw «Alpamys». Syrdarya. 1934. pp. 46-51, 68-87, 123-125.
2. Bahadirova S. The versions of the Karakalpak national epic «Alpamys». Nukus. «Independent
Karakalpakstan» ( Erkin Qaraqalpaqstan). 1998. pp. 3-6.
3. Hall J.L. Beowulf. Epic poetry, English (Old), Monsters, Dragons. Boston, D.C. Heath & Co. 1892.
148 p.
4. Heaney S. «Beowulf» a new translation. New York W. Norton & Co.1999. pp. 118-119.
Internet recourses:
1.
https://www.ancient-literature.com/other_beowulf.html
https://www.bl.uk/сollection-items/beowulf
COMMUNICATION CULTURE AND SPEECH ETIQUETTE
Uteshova Z.Kh.
PhD, Head of English Language and Literature Department
KarSU named after Berdakh, Nukus, Uzbekistan
A person's worldview, his personal characteristics are formed precisely in society, in the place
where he (the person) coexists. In the anthropological understanding, people are not born with a certain
culture, but acquire it in the course of communication, on the basis of social activity, in particular, speech.
The subject acquires a language that is a component of culture, and through its use gains access to its
components. Therefore, the socialization of the personality takes place, during which the child's thinking
and models of his behavior are formed, therefore the social function of the language as a means of
communication, along with other factors, comes to the fore [2, 15-16]. The famous psychologist Luria
argued that speech and its traces, which form the basis of the second signal system, allow one to distract
and generalize the signals of reality, formulate intentions, and create the basis for ―forecasting‖ the future
[4]. This means that speech also allows you to create long-term structures of excitation and creation of a
program aimed at a known goal of human behavior. In turn, Yakubinsky noted human speech activity as a
diverse phenomenon, determined by all the complex variety of factors and functions [8, 17-58].
Thus, language and speech are a means of contact, and an instrument of an intellectual operation,
complex mental activity. According to Panfilov, language has two functions: communicative function and
cognitive function of culture.
1. The communicative function is the process of exchanging information between people using signs and
sign systems.
2. The cognitive function of culture is any culture that creates its own picture of the world, learns by
exploring the human soul, society and the world [5].
It should be noted that the author does not take into account other functions of the language, in
particular, the language also performs etiquette, cumulative and other functions that are associated with
the culture and social norms of a certain society.
With regard to language learning, the most significant is the understanding of culture as the
totality of the results of the activities of human society in industrial, social and spiritual life. Culture as a
social phenomenon also represents the values of the accumulated and accumulated definitions of a
community of people, has a historical genesis, and plays a certain role in the formation of a separate
human personality [1]. Culture is a model for interpreting what people say and do, a model for social
structures and processes [7].
As you know, modern culture presupposes coexistence in a common world, i.e. to be able to build
a mutually beneficial dialogue with all subjects of this common living space, to be able to build
humanitarian intercultural bridges between representatives of cultures and countries. In this, an important
role is played by the language, which acts as a tool, with the help of which the construction of bridges of
mutual understanding and interaction between representatives of different societies becomes a reality.
Therefore, in the process of studying a foreign language, a student must master not only a new language
code, but also the way of life, customs, and cultural achievements characteristic of its carriers. In other
words, the student must learn the generalized cultural experience of previous generations who spoke this
language. With an emphasis on the formation of a person's ability to intercultural communication, it is
important that the student acquires a foreign language (development of speech experience) and the
development of his cultural experience, in which it is possible to isolate the attitude of the individual to
himself and to the world [3]. But culture cannot be understood without its correlation with society as a
whole. Culture and society are with each other in relation not to an abstract, but to a concrete identity,
which presupposes not only a coincidence, but also a difference. The relationship between society and
