Singing the Past : Turkic and Medieval Heroic Poetry / Karl Reichl.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reichl, Karl, author.

Series:

Myth and Poetics Series

Myth and Poetics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Epic poetry.

Poetics--History--To 1500.

Poetics.

Poetry, Medieval--History and criticism.

Poetry, Medieval.

Epic poetry, Turkic--History and criticism.

Epic poetry, Turkic.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 221 p. :) ill., maps ;

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

Chiefly in English, with some lyrics in other languages.

Summary:

Oral epic poetry is still performed by Turkic singers in Central Asia. On trips to the region, Karl Reichl collected heroic poems from the Uzbek, Kazakh, and Karakalpak oral traditions. Through a close analysis of these Turkic works, he shows that they are typologically similar to heroic poetry in Old English, Old High German, and Old French and that they can offer scholars new insights into the oral background of these medieval texts.Reichl draws on his research in Central Asia to discuss questions regarding performance as well as the singers' training, role in society, and repertoire. He asserts that heroic poetry and epic are primarily concerned with the interpretation of the past in song: the courageous deeds of ancestors, the search for tribal and societal roots, and the definition and transmission of cultural values. Reichl finds that in these traditions the heroic epic is part of a generic system that includes historical and eulogistic poetry as well as heroic lays, a view that has diachronic implications for medieval poetry.Singing the Past reminds readers that because much medieval poetry was composed for oral recitation, both the Turkic and the medieval heroic poems must always be appreciated as poetry in performance, as sound listened to, as words spoken or sung.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword / Nagy, Gregory

Acknowledgments

Note on Transcription, Pronunciation, and Translations

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE. Turkic Bards and Oral Epics

CHAPTER TWO.Variations on Epic and History

CHAPTER THREE. In Search of the Heroic Lay

CHAPTER FOUR. Heroic Epic and Tribal Roots

CHAPTER FIVE. Heroic Past and Poetic Presence

Conclusion

APPENDIX ONE. The Text of Tdwke-batü

APPENDIX TWO. The Text of Ormanbet-biy

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-215) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Apr 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781501732164

1501732161

OCLC:

1132223851