THE RESEARCH OF TURA MIRZAYEV BASED ON THE LITERARY PERFORMANCE OF ERGASH JUMANBULBUL

Аннотация

In the article, the repertoire of Ergash Jumanbulbul (Ergash Jumanbulbul o‘g‘li), basically his “Bulbul taronalari” (Melodies of Nightingale) and its artistic value and ways of adopting it are discussed. Comments are given regarding what aspects Tura Mirzayev has mainly focused on. Specific considerations and examples are provided regarding the approach of defining theauthor’s position andjudgement. Key words: epic, literary skill, bakhshi, version, poetic piece, prosaic piece, literary depiction, motive,repetition. In folk epics, the destiny of a whole nation, its history, culture, and dreams are portrayed. As academician T. Mirzayev emphasized, “Folk epics are a great gift from antiquity, a reflection of the general outlook of the period in which they were created. At the same time, they are literary monuments which were created in the conditions ofliving traditional creativity and performance, express the objective spirit of the people across generations, expanding or narrowing in content and form, and passed down orally from generations to generations. They are a unique artistic expression of heroic events wrapped in the shell of legends from the national history of the people.” [1.21.]Folk epics are sung by the most eloquent, experienced, and wise bakhshis (epic singers) of the people. Even in the 19th century, poets such as Ergash Jumanbulbul o‘g‘li, Fozil Yo‘ldosh o‘g‘li, Po‘lkan Shoir, Berdi Bakhshi, Islom Shoir, Bekmurod Jo‘raboy o‘g‘li, Abdulla Nurali o‘g‘li, and Saidmurod Panoh o‘g‘li had already become popular among the people. Furthermore, the recorded history of over 200 bakhshis who lived and created in the 19th–20th centuries stand as a significant scientific achievement in Uzbek folklore studies. Each bakhshi had a peculiar style in both using the language and performance. Among them, Ergash Jumanbulbul was always regarded as a leading figure, recognized for his eloquence and mastery ofwords. Theepic repertoire of folk bakhshis basically contains dastans (epic poems) and termas (didactic songs). This repertoire is traditionally passed down orally from master to apprentice. The stronger the apprentice's memory, the more accurately the original version of the learned dastan, terma, or qissa (story) is preserved in new performances. However, it is not entirely correct to consider this a mere replication of an original version. In the process of new performances, the bakhshi enriches the epic work with his own talent, incorporating real-life truths, advice, and insights through improvisation. In this way, dastans are artistically polished bythebakhshi’s worldview and linguisticrichness. The performer’s eloquence, depth of thought, and vivid imagination influence the content of the performed dastan. Russian scholar V. P. Anikin, discussing folklore traditions, noted: “There can be no folklore outside of tradition. Creative acts connected to improvisation must be based on tradition; otherwise, the essence of the events will not materialize. The improviser draws on ready-madepoetic solutions,ideas, imagery, poetictechniques, and stylistic formulas.”[2.209.] https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi volume 4,issue3,2025 429 It is precisely these aspects that give Ergash Jumanbulbul’s performances and creative repertoire a special place in national folklore studies. The dastans performed by the bakhshi stand out from those of other performers in terms of poetic scope, epic structure, artistry, and unique style. Especially in the poetic parts of the dastans sung by Ergash Shoir, the high level of melodic expression, rhyme, repetition, and artistic wordplay is striking. This attests to the bakhshi’s profound epic knowledgeand his deep familiarity with classical literature. In his performances, the depiction of events and the actions of characters are artistically interwoven using masterful language, evoking memories and stirring a nostalgic longing for the distant past. The collection Bulbul Taronalari ("Nightingale Melodies") constitutes nearly half of thepoet’s entire repertoire, which aloneserves as compelling evidence of Ergash Shoir’s mastery andbrillianceas aword artist. Indeed, Ergash Jumanbulbul preserved the finest examples of Uzbek folk epics that he heard from poets before him, eloquent storytellers, and notably from Tilla Kampir (Granny Tilla), and reinterpreted them into classical-level compositions for the people. For this reason, studying and researching the bakhshi’s creativity has remained a consistently relevant issue in Uzbek folklore scholarship. In this context, his work attracted the attention of leading Uzbek folklorists and founders of the field, such as Professor Hodi Zarifov and Academician To‘ra Mirzayev, who initiated scholarly research into his poetry. Particularly notable are the academic studies conducted by To‘ra Mirzayev, especially his research titled “A Great Folk Poet” featured in the fifth volume of the five-volume collection Bulbul Taronalari, published in 1978 to commemora