Aqyn or akyn (Kazakh : ақын, Kyrgyz : акын, pronounced [ɑˈqɯn] ; both transcribed as aqın or اقىن), is an improvisational poet, singer, and oral repository within the Kazakh and Kyrgyz cultures. Aqyns differ from the zhyraus or manaschys, who are instead song performers or epic storytellers.
In song competitions known as aytıs or aytysh, aqyns improvise in the form of a song-like recitative, usually to the accompaniment of a dombra (among Kazakhs) or a komuz (among Kyrgyz). In the context of the nomadic lifestyle and illiteracy of most of the rural population in Central Asia in pre-Soviet times, akyns played an important role in terms of expressing people's thoughts and feelings, exposing social vices, and glorifying heroes. In the Soviet era, their repertoire incorporated praise songs to Lenin. [1]
Contemporary aqyns may also publish their original lyrics and poetry.
Famous historical Kazakh akyns include: Zhanak Kambaruluy (1760–1857), Makhambet Otemisuly (1804–1846), Suyunbai Aronuly (1815–1898), Shernyz Zharylgasov (1817–1881), Birzhan-Sal Khodgulov (1834–1897), Ziaus Baizhanov (1835–1929), Akan Sery Corramsauluy (1843–1913), Zhambyl Zhabayuly (1846–1945), Gaziz Firesoll (mind 1930), Kenen Azerbaev (1884–1976), and Aktan Kereiuly.
Aqyns often fully improvise, responding to any phenomena in society or at the situation on nationwide holidays, etc. On holidays, a kind of aqyn competition is often held. During the aqua contest, having fun, alternately in poetry form, try to make fun of each other or choosing any arbitrary theme. Sometimes, the authorities are trying to subjected to Aytyus censorship when it comes to the power of property or politicians. [2]
The nomadic lifestyle and the speed of the art of Akynov did not allow the work in the past and maintain works on paper. Most of the works of Aquins remained lost.
Famous Kyrgyz aqyns include Qalygul, Arstanbek, Soltonbay, Toqtogul Satylganov, Togoloq Moldo, Qylychty, Naymanbay, Qalmyrza, Eshmanbet, and Beknazar. Sometimes manaschys are also considered a separate story-telling category of aqyns.
Kyrgyz music is nomadic and rural, and is closely related to Turkmen and Kazakh folk forms. Kyrgyz folk music is characterized by the use of long, sustained pitches, with Russian elements also prominent.
Music of Kazakhstan refers to a wide range of musical styles and genres deriving from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is home to the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments, the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kazakh National Opera and the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra. The folk instrument orchestra was named after Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly, a well-known composer and dombra player from the 19th century.
The culture of Mongolia has been shaped by the country's nomadic tradition and its position at the crossroads of various empires and civilizations. Mongolian culture is influenced by the cultures of the Mongolic, Turkic, and East Asian peoples, as well as by the country's geography and its history of political and economic interactions with other nations.
The Epic of Manas is a lengthy and traditional epic poem of the Kyrgyz people of East and Central Asia. Versions of the poem which date to the 19th century contain historical events of the 18th century, though Kyrgyz tradition holds it to be much older. Manas is said to be based on Bars Bek, the first khagan of the Kyrgyz Khaganate. The plot of Manas revolves around a series of events that coincide with the history of the region, primarily the interaction of the Kyrgyz people with other Turkic, Mongolic and Chinese peoples.
The komuz or qomuz is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute.
Modern Kazakh culture is mainly characterized as a synthesis of Tengrian nomadic and Islamic and European elements. Nomadic elements derived from predecessors, such as the Huns, First Turkic Khaganate, Golden Horde and Kazakh Khanate. Nomadism largely shaped its peculiar music, clothing, jewelry and oral literature. Kazakh culture also seems to be strongly influenced by the nomadic Scythians.
Toktogul Satylganov was the most famous of the Kyrgyz Akyns – improvising poets and singers. The Kyrgyz town of Toktogul in the Jalal-Abad Region is named in his honor. Toktogul was born in Kushchusu, a village now submerged in the Toktogul Reservoir.
The culture of Kyrgyzstan has a wide mix of ethnic groups and cultures, with the Kyrgyz being the majority group. It is generally considered that there are 40 Kyrgyz clans, symbolized by the 40-rayed yellow sun in the center of the flag. The red lines inside the sun visualise the crown of a yurt, the traditional dwelling of nomadic farmers, once the main population of the Central Asian area. The dominant religion of Kyrgyzstan is Sunni Islam (91%). The Russian population is Russian Orthodox.
Sart is a name for the settled inhabitants of Central Asia which has had shifting meanings over the centuries. According to Great Soviet Encyclopedia, before the October Revolution of 1917, the name “Sart” was used in relation to the Uyghurs and Uzbeks by Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and semi-nomadic Uzbeks.
Soviet Central Asia was the part of Central Asia administered by the Russian SFSR and then the Soviet Union between 1918 and 1991, when the Central Asian republics declared independence. It is nearly synonymous with Russian Turkestan in the Russian Empire. Soviet Central Asia went through many territorial divisions before the current borders were created in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Lyuli, Jughi or Jugi are a branch of the Ghorbati people living in Central Asia, primarily Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and southern Kyrgyzstan; also, related groups can be found in Turkey, and the Balkans, Crimea, Southern Russia and Afghanistan. They speak ethnolects of the Persian and Turkic language and practice Sunni Islam. The terms Lyuli and Jugi are considered pejorative. They have a clan organization. Division into sub-clans is also practiced. The Lyuli community is extremely closed towards non-Lyuli.
The kobyz or qobyz, also known as the kylkobyz, is an ancient Turkic bowed string instrument, spread among Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Bashkirs, and Tatars. The Kyrgyz variant is called the kyl-kyiak).
Zhambyl Zhabaev was a Soviet and Kazakh traditional folksinger.
Aitysh is the name for the primarily folk-oriented, oral tradition of improvised singing and oratory between two parties referred to in Kazakh as akyns but found throughout Central Asia. Each akyn, usually sitting close to each other, strums a folk instrument, and respond to each other in rhymed improvisational verses.
Kazakh literature is defined as 'the body of literature, both oral and written, produced in the Kazakh language by the Kazakh people of Central Asia'.
The Kyrgyz are a Turkic ethnic group and one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Mainly distributed in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, in the southwest of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a few Kyrgyz communities reside in neighboring Uqturpan, Aksu, Yarkant, Yengisar, Taxkorgan and Pishan. According to the fifth national census of the People's Republic of China conducted in 2000, there are 160,875 Kyrgyz people in China.
Jolon Mamytov (Kyrgyz: Жолон Мамытов was a famous Kyrgyz aqyn, known especially for his love songs/poems. He was born in the village of Tölöykön in Kara-Suu District, Osh Region, Kirghiz SSR and died in Bishkek.
Isaac Yakovlevich Itkind [app. 1871, Smarhon' (Smorgonie), near Vilnius, Russian Empire, present-day Belarus - February 14, 1969, Alma-Ata ] was a distinguished Russian and Soviet sculptor from Lithuanian Jewish origin. A self-taught primitivist and a rabbi, only aged 39 did he start his studies in art in Vilno, and aged 42 years, his studies in sculpture with famous Russian sculptor Sergei Volnukhin at the School of Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow. Itkind's favorite style was wooden sculptures of people. The uniqueness of Itkind's creativity was in his genius to “see a soul in the wooden slob” as he often relayed to his creations. "To Isaac Itkind it is important that his sculptures should think and should stimulate thought". The famous artist, Marc Chagall, a personal friend of Itkind, once said: “ Itkind is the Van Gogh of sculpture”. After the Soviet revolution, the tragic events of the Great Purge threw Itkind's life into oblivion - and his masterpieces followed for decades. He was falsely declared dead in 1937. Itkind's long and unique life – full of tragic events – nourished his genius creativity..
Turkmen literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Old Oghuz Turkic and Turkmen languages. The Turkmens are direct descendants of the Oghuz Turks, who were a western Turkic people, who formed the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family.
Gulsaira Momunova, in Kyrgyz: Гүлсайра Момунова was a Kyrgyz journalist, translator and poet. In 2011, she was given the title 'People's Poet of Kyrgyzstan'.