Storytelling
World Storytelling Day logo, designed by Mats Rhenman
Today is World Storytelling Day; a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. All around the world, people gather to listen to and tell each other stories, sharing ideas and inspiration.
The day has its origins in a festival in Sweden, “Alla berattares dag” (All storytellers day), in the early 1990’s. Although the organization which started the ball rolling was wound up, the day assumed a life of its own and events were organized in several countries around the word. Events are unified by a theme, which in the past has included Birds, Bridges, the Moon, wanderers, Dreams, Neighbours, Light and Shadow and Water; this year it is Trees. Events are planned in Canada, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, the USA and Zambia
Oral tradition, of course, plays a very role important in Kyrgyzstan. Oral tradition can be defined as cultural material, (history, literature, law and other knowledge), transmitted orally from one generation to another, in the form of speech or song, (and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants), without necessitating a system of writing.
From ancient times the Kyrgyz have honoured the art of story telling. Folk-lore was passed from ayil to ayil (village to village), from bozoi to bozoi (yurt to yurt). Although most Kyrgyz can play a musical instrument and know ballads, legends and fairy tales, story tellers were respected and sometimes called “people’s nightingales” or jomokchu and are welcomed guests in any home.
Akyn
The term “akyn” is used to refer to a performer that improvises verses – rather similar to a “minstrel” in olden Europe. The akyns began as the oral carriers of history, myth and philosophy for Central Asia’s pre-literate nomads. In practice, they were also extemporaneous preachers who lectured in sung verse on the political and moral issues of the day, adapting old legends or codes for the country’s latest ruler.
In the Soviet period, a lot of attention was paid to akyn and the communists used them to spread party propaganda. Akyns often sang about Lenin, the revolution and the achievements of the party.
One of the greatest Akyns of the Twentieth Century was Toktogul – who appears on the 100 som banknote and was a master at the art of Aytish. Some of his improvisations got him into trouble with the local “manaps” and they arranged for him to be exiled to Siberia. After the Bolshevik revolution he wrote a poem about Lenin which is sometimes credited as being the beginning of “democratic ideas” amongst the Kyrgyz.
Aytish
Aytish is a competition between two “akyns” who compete in composing and performing improvised songs – and they were a common feature at times of major celebrations and holidays.
Although traditional Aytish contests feature just a pair of akyns, occasionally a larger number may participate …and it has been known for someone in the audience to join in! The two “performers” sit several feet apart and duel in sung verse, each cuing off the other’s words and ideas in a mixture of rhythmic singing, chanting and exclaiming. The Akyns take turns, singing songs and creating a sort of musical dialogue, like a debate. The performers would be given a topic and then had to improvise a song and perform it – the crowd being the judges. Skilled akyns combine a poetic talent with a quick wit, jokes, (often at the expense of people known to the audience, possibly even sitting in the audience), and often employing well known proverbs.
In another form called alym sabak – which translates as “catch the line” – one akyn will start an “argument” and the second should continue it.
They have to improvise on whatever topic comes up … apparently they can perform for hours at a time on subjects which range from the beauty of the universe to the pleasures of drinking a cup of tea. The winner of the competition is the one considered to have demonstrated the most musical skill, rhythm, wisdom and wit. Usually the akyn accompanies himself on a komuz.
There are aitysh competitions held between Kyrgyz and Kazak performers, in which the singers exchange gentle insults about each other and their respective countries whilst making witty asides to the audience. It seems that the Kalpak, (traditional felt hats worn the Kyrgyz), is a particular target for the Kazaks.
It is said that the Aytish, as well as being a popular form of entertainment, also played a significant role in the development of the Kyrgyz language.
The best of the improvising bards were known as tokmo akyn and they were very popular and always granted great respect. Toktogul was one of the most famous and would compose songs which attacked the greedy rich and unjust “aristocrats”. He was also known to humiliate his rivals in his compositions.
Sung in the Kyrgyz or Kazak languages, it is almost impossible to catch the pithiness of the verses in translation.
Stories
Some of the stories passed down over the generations are folk-tales are associated with places, others with events, or aspects of nature, for example tales about animals. Some are moral tales whilst others are like fairy tales. They describe rich and silly Khans, brave hunters, poor peasants and shepherds, beautiful and brave women who give good advice. At the end of the story the poor and clever people usually come out on top. There are a series of tales about the wise man “Asankaygy” and the smart fellow “Aldar Kose”.
Many of the tales illustrate aspects of everyday life. Events usually take place in well-known surroundings.
The Kyrgyz are also fond of riddles – which are often based in everyday activities like cattle breeding, agriculture, or nomadic life.
Kyrgyz oral tradition included several epics about mythical warriors, including Manas, Jayin-Bayis, Kurmanbek, and Er Tabildi. The most widely known of these, of course, is the epic Manas which is still widely performed by specialist narrators called manaschi. (The Manas epic is not strictly speaking a memorized piece. The manaschi takes the outline of the story and improvise verses, which have a distinct rhythmic beat and are accompanied by expressive hand gestures. Several versions and four million verses have been recorded.)
Preserving the tradition
Being passed down verbally and not written down, the stories of the oral tradition not only may developed over the passage of time, they were also a form of living culture, running the risk of disappearing if no-one passed them on.
Today, however, much of the material has been recorded for posterity – either in audio or video format. This process started during the Tsarist period with transcriptions by scholars such as the Kazakh scholar and ethnographer Chokan Alikhanov and the German born Russian, Vasily Radlov.
This was further advanced by the work of the Academy of Sciences and the National Library which have between them many examples of different epics and stories that might well have disappeared had it not been for their study.
It is said that at the time the Soviet Union collapsed, there were only four akyns left in the country. The art form is, however, showing signs of a revival – with the creation of the Aitysh Foundation, the opening of a school for young akyns and an increasing awareness in the Manas Epic (following the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the epic in 1995 – it is even being taught in schools).
Bishkek