Communicative Strategies of Biys and the Construction of Kazakh Identity

• In Event: Geographies of Post-Socialist Belonging: Law, Race, and Gender

Abstract

The institute of steppe justice was formed in the Middle Ages, during the formation of the Kazakh identity. The social role of biy in the life of the people was determined by the practice of case law, based on ideas about honor, dignity, and the power of persuasive words. Communicative rhetoric as a tool for the formation of cultural identity has not yet become an object of study in Kazakh science. Meanwhile, biy's decision-making and reaching agreement with the listener reflects worldview where, in addition to the rhetorical ideal, the issues of "state and power", "the image of a judge", "the ideal of national morality" are raised. The legends about Tole biy, Kazibek biy, Aiteke biy, and others depict the ideal of a judge as a symbol of power and a constant of national identity. The peculiarity of Kazakh justice lay in the peculiarities of management and "manipulation" of the consciousness of subjects of public court. The legends of biy contain a wide range of argumentation techniques, ways to achieve agreement, people's ideas about the ideal speaker and ideal speech. Symbols, logical riddles, parallelisms, and allegory reflect Biy's creative competence and the communicative resources of speech. The theoretical value of the topic of the report is due to the description of the rhetoric of law on the example of the rhetorical ideal. The practical significance lies in the development of Kazakh rhetoric as an academic and educational discipline.
Keywords: Kazakh rhetoric, biy institute, case law, cultural and national identity

Author

• Gulnur Yerik, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National U (Kazakhstan)