Kırgız Çalışmaları Açısından Kutadgu Bilig: Milli Kültürel Statüsüne Doğru Bir Yol

Marmara Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi • Cilt II, Sayı 2 • Sonbahar 2015 • ISSN 2148-6743 • ss. 143-157 DOI 10.16985/MTAD.2016225603 KYRGYZ STUDIES OF KUTADGU BILIG: A ROAD TO NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE STATUS* Gulnisa JAMAL** Abstract Kutadgu Bilig has been one of the academic interests of Kyrgyzstan for over half a century. The study of its linguistic features, philosophical concepts, and comparative translation has reached a certain level of fruition. Specifically, the production of dozens of research papers revolved around Kyrgyz associations with Kutadgu Bilig in terms of language, history, and culture, discussing whether the work is part of the cultural heritage owned by more than one Turkic people and how the Kyrgyz people should see this literary masterpiece. Under governmental interventions, long years of persistent studies and intense debates ultimately led to Kyrgyzstan’s official recognition of the work as part of the Kyrgyz national intangible cultural heritage, not the shared Turkic heritage as thought earlier. Key words: Kutadgu Bilig, Research, Kyrgyzstan, Literary Heritage. KIRGIZ ÇALIŞMALARI AÇISINDAN KUTADGU BİLİG: MİLLİ KÜLTÜREL STATÜSÜNE DOĞRU BİR YOL Özet Kutadgu Bilig, yarım asırdan daha uzun bir süre boyunca Kırgızistan’ın akademik ilgi alanlarından biri olmuştur. Dilsel özellikleri, felsefi kavramları ve karşılaştırmalı tercümeleri yönündeki çalışmalar, belli bir doyum noktasına ulaşmıştır. Kutadgu Bilig’in tek bir Türk toplumundan çok daha fazlası tarafından sahiplenilen kültürel mirasın bir parçası olup olmadığı ve Kırgız halkının bunu nasıl edebi bir başyapıt olarak görmesi gerektiği tartışılırken, Kutadgu Bilig ile ilgili dil, tarih ve kültürel açıdan yazılan onlarca araştırma makalesi ürünü, Kırgız kuruluşların (makamların) etrafında oluşmuştur. Devlet müdahaleleri altında uzun yıllar süren ısrarlı çalışmalar ve yoğun tartışmalar, daha önce düşünüldüğü gibi Türk mirası olarak değil, Kırgız millî somut olmayan kültürel mirasının bir parçası olarak Kırgızistan tarafından resmen tanınması sonucunu doğurmuştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kutadgu Bilig, Araştırma, Kırgızistan, Edebi Miras. * This is part of research program NO:12BZW077 “History of Kutadgu Bilig studies” supported by the Xinjiang Social Sciences Fund and directed by Ms. Gulnisa Jamal (born in 1961). She is a PhD and associate professor in the Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics, International Education College. She specializes in Turkic Linguistic Studies and Chinese as a Foreign Language. ** Associate Professor, Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics (China). 143 Gulnisa JAMAL is paper examines Kutadgu Bilig, a long didactic poem written by Uyghur poet Yusuf Has Hajib (Yūsuf Khāṣṣ Ḥājib) in 1069/1070 AD. ree manuscripts of the work are extant today: 1) the Herat (Vienna) copy, written in the Uyghur alphabet; 2) the Cairo copy, written in the Arabic script; and 3) the Fergana copy e first study of Kutadgu Biligis generally believed to be a report published in the magazine Asia in 1825, its author being A. Jaubert (1779-1847). Since then the poem has caught attention from Turkic linguists around the world. From the early 20th century, in terms of Kutadgu Bilig studies, the Soviet Union gradually climbed to the top of the nations, which studied it. Kyrgyzstan, which inherited the tradition of oriental studies from the Soviet Union, also accomplished a great deal in studying the work. Most of these achievements, however, remain little known to the Chinese community due to insufficient academic exchange between China and Central Asia. An overall review of Kyrgyz literature concerning Kutadgu Bilig is one of significance to academia and academic history. For Chinese related research and exchange, an essential understanding isneeded of how the Kyrgyz research community took the leap from discussing historical references with the “shared cultural heritage theory” to advocating for the poem’s exclusive status as part of Kyrgyz intangible cultural heritage. 1. Kyrgyz Studies of Kutadgu Bilig: An Overview Research Background and Characterization As a former USSR member state, Kyrgyzstan produced few insightful papers and books on Kutadgu Bilig topics until the 1950s. Related research was rare for a literary piece that seemed too remote from real life to be given the attention it deserved. Despite this setback, quite a few Kyrgyz researchers “immersed” themselves in work from the larger Russian academic community, which to some extent affected their academic vision and thinking. Among them is the renowned Kyrgyz linguist Konstantin Kuzmich Yudakhin (Юдахин Константин Кузымич). His Introduction to S.E. Malov’s Monuments of Ancient Turkic Writing: Texts and Research is hailed as the key to the treasure box that is Kutadgu Bilig. Unfortunately, this book had a limited print run and contained such a wide cross-section of disciplines that its precise influence is impossible to ascertain. Such research and communication processes were confined to a small elite group that was proficient in Russian and was interested in the Turkic languages and cultures. Under the tightly-controlled political framework of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan inevitably found it very difficult to pursue its academic aspirations. Naturally, the Kyrgyz academic climate improved when Khrushchev created a freer environment with a de-Stalinization policy enacted in the mid-1960s. eir nationalist sentiment aroused, the Kyrgyz elite turned their attention to issues concerning their national history and culture. ey looked into the Orhon-Yenisey runic inscriptions of the Middle Ages as well as Kutadgu Bilig, the Dīwān lughāt al-Turk, and the like, hoping to find these works’ innate connection 144 Kyrgyz Studies of Kutadgu Bilig: A Road to National Cultural Heritage Status to traditional Kyrgyz culture. It was around this time that the studies of Kutadgu Bilig began to emerge. Based on the way in which Kutadgu Bilig is connected to the Kyrgyz language, history, and culture, these research projects primarily involved intensive studies and long debates as to whether the work should be regarded as a part of Turkic national heritage and how the Kyrgyz people ought to think of it. e quality of research, however, varied across the academic scene. A. Narynbaev, K. Aida, Y. Asanaliev, and K. Ashyraliev, among others, were patient and honest in their studies while others impetuously churned out papers in their hot pursuit of ethnic and linguistic findings to accentuate the pro-Kyrgyz concept. Unfortunately, the latter phenomenon prevailed over a considerably long period of time. 2. Research Stages is paper delineates three stages of Kutadgu Bilig studies beginning from An Introduction to S.E. Malov’s Monuments of Ancient Turkic Writing: Texts and Research (1952) by K. Yudakhin (К. К.Юдахин), namely 1952-1989, 1990-2003, and 2004-2015. is paper also refers to Yusuf Has Hajib as Yusuf Balasaghuni because he was born in t (...truncated)