ABOUT TURKMEN EDITIONS AND PUBLISHERS OF THE OGUZ NATIONAL EPOS “BOOK OF MY GRANDFATHER KORKUT”

Abstract

The article deals with the events happened after the edition of the heroic national epos “Book of My Grandfather Korkut” in Ashkhabad in 1951, namely the session of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Turkmenistan from August, 16th and December, 13th the same year, and the decisions made by it on the question considered. In the centre of the above and subsequent events there were three people: Mati Kosayev who prepared the epos for publishing, the editor Baymuhammet Ataliyevich Karriyev and the publisher Orazmammet Abdalov. These people were excluded from the Communist party and condemned to 25 years of imprisonment in 1952 and in 1953. In addition, the article tells about life and scientific activity of the literary men and scientists M. Kosayev and B.A. Karriyev who were rehabilitated in the middle of 1956 and carried out great pedagogical and research work during the subsequent years, having deserved high scientific ranks of professor and academician. Further the article presents some data about some other people condemned on political grounds during that period. The history about the oral variants of the epos written down by the collector of folklore A. Rakhmanov after visiting Turkmen storytellers is analyzed. The author also states the data on the editions of the epos in publishing houses “Turkmenistan”, “Magaryf”, “Ylym”, and in the National institute of manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan in the 90s of the last century. The Ashkhabad edition of 2015 which was devoted to the 200th anniversary from the date of issue of German translation of the epos “Book of my grandfather Korkut” has gained special place in the article.