Narrative
Şükür bagşy
Not translated into English
Nurmyrat Saryhanov · 1941
Synopsis
Şükür, a dutar player whom villages compete to have at their festivals, learns that his brother Berdi, who went away beyond the mountains, has been taken prisoner by an Iranian khan. The young horsemen want to set out armed, while an elder proposes gathering a ransom for this khan who is said to be greedy for gold. The musician looks for a third way: he goes alone, unarmed, with only his instrument, to the khan, who is intrigued by the dutar and challenges him to face Gulam, the renowned musician of his court.
Context
According to the Russian edition of 1961, the narrative, written in 1941, was not printed during the author's lifetime, as he did not consider it finished; it has taken the form of a dastan. Its material comes from a real musician: Şükür bagşy was born in 1831 in the Gökdepe region and lived mostly in the village of Duşak, and legend has it that he freed by music alone his brother, a captive of a Persian khan. The film Sostyazanie, shot at the Turkmenfilm studios, is based on the narrative.
Who it is for
A short narrative in Turkmen, translated into Russian in 1961. It helps to know that the bagşy is at once singer, storyteller and dutar player, the long-necked lute of the Turkmen.
Prizes and reception
Its author's best-known work, reissued in Turkmen in 2007 and translated into Russian in Ashgabat in 1984.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.