Singers of Counsel: Aqyns as Companions and as Counsellors in Kazakh Oral Epic

• In Event: Narrative and Memory in Kazakh Literature

Abstract

This paper surveys a series of 19th and early 20th century Qazaq oral literary texts, including versions of Qyz Jibek, Edige, and Kazakh folk tales centered on the character of Dede Korkut, examining the texts’ representations of aqyns and of their place in society. In particular, the paper interrogates the depiction of a complicated reciprocal relationship between the singers and their patrons, as the fame of each hinges on the prowess of their counterpart.

Author

• Gabriel Vertin McGuire, Nazarbayev U (Kazakhstan)