Abstract
COMPARASION OF THE BAMSI BEYREK EPIC WITH ALIP-MEMŞEN EPIC OF TATAR TURKS
Dede Korkut, one hidden treasure of the Turkish culture, not only constitutes the first step of the transition from the epic tradition to folktale but is also the lively embodiment of nomadic horsemen life culture.
Some Dede Korkut epics continue to exist today across the Turkishness geography from the Adriatic to the Chinese Wall. The epic of Alıp Memşen that exists among Tatar Turks is a variant of Bamsı Beyrek epic in the Book of Dede Korkut.
The epic of Bamsı Beyrek, which is told in oral tradition, is known as “Alpamıs” among Kazakh and Karakalpak people; “Alpamış” among the Uzbek; “Alpamıs” among the Bashkirs; “Alıp- Manaş” among the Altaics; “Bamsı Beyrek” among Azerbaijan and Turkmen Turks; “Bamsı Beyrek”, “Bey Böyrek”, “Ak Kavak Kızı”, “Bey Bayram” in Anatolia; “Dengiboz” among Gagauzian Turks and “Alıp-Memşen” among Tatar Turks.
The source of our study, the epic of Alıp-Memşen was cited from F.V. Ahmetova’s Tatar Halık İcatı Dastannar, (Kazan 1984: 49-53) and translated into the Turkish language of Turkey. We will compare the epic of Bamsı Beyrek and the epic of Alıp-Memşen in the study. By this means we will try to reveal the common cultural bonds in the Turkic world and the cultural erosion occuring in various geographies in the course of time.
Keywords
Tatar, Epic, Alıp-Memşen.
