RESEARCH
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review entitled “Die Aserbeidschanische Literatur”
(Azerbaijani Literature (4)), the European literary
public and literary critics had the opportunity for the
first time to obtain objective and systematic
information on Azerbaijani literature and its sources.
In this article we shall speak about two articles by
Jafaroghlu: “75 Aserbaidschanische Lieder 'Bayaty'
in der Mundart von Gandscha nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklarung” (5; 6) and “La Canzone del
'Sayagi' nella letteratura popolare dell′ Azerbaigian”
(7).
His work “75 Aserbaidschanische Lieder 'Bayaty'
in der Mundart von Gandscha nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklarung” was his doctoral thesis and
his first research work published in Europe.
Jafaroghlu went to Europe for studies on a
scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Germany. For one semester he studied in Berlin
University, where he was taught by Bang Kaup, A.
Von Le Jog, Vasmer and Vestermann. Then he spent
five semesters in Breslau at Friedrich Vilhelm
University, where he was taught by Friedrich Giesse,
Brockelmann, Diels, Koschmieder and Schaeder. On
May 15, 1929, he earned his PhD under the
supervision of Friedrich Giesse, a well-known
Turkologist.
The topic of his dissertation was the Azerbaijani
bayatis which he loved and listened to in Ganja, his
home town, the second biggest town of Azerbaijan.
He left Ganja in the early years of his childhood, lived
in Samarkand for some time, then migrated to Turkey,
which perhaps made him homesick. In general, the
choice of this topic for his doctoral thesis was not
incidental, but rather the manifestation of some
internal demand. Later in his creative activity he
appealed to many sources, ranging from the epos of
“Kitabi-Dede Korkut” (The Book of my Grandfather
Korkut) to the love epos of “Ashug Garib,” and
various topics of Azerbaijani folklore. This is
confirmed by his recognition as a scholar in the field
of folklore studies.
In his work “75 Azerbaycanişe Lieder 'Bayaty' in
der Mundart von Gence nebst einer sprachlichen
Erklaerung” Jafaroghlu published Azerbaijani
bayatis in the original and his own literal (line by line)
translation in German for the first time. The title of the
work indicates that the author will focus on the
linguistic features of bayatis; nevertheless, in the
foreword and introduction of the work he speaks of
the bayati as a poetic genre in folklore and its
characteristic features, giving a thorough analysis of
bayatis from the point of view of literary criticism.
Translation of 75 Azerbaijani bayatis into German
and introduction of them to European readers was a
monumental literary event.
In his voluminous work “Study of the Azeri
dialect in the East and West” written in 1934, he
speaks of his own work and writes, “in the last ten
years among the studies dedicated to the investigation
of the Azerbaijani dialect in the West, my own study
was also included. In 1930, that research paper was
published as a separate booklet and also in the
collections of Berlin Oriental Institute in the form of
“75 Azerbaycanişe Lieder 'Bayaty' in der Mundart
von Gence nebst einer sprachlichen Erklaerung”, in
which I speak of my native Ganja dialect (8, p.37).
This work was highly appraised by Turkologists.
The German Turkologist G. Yaeschke in his “Works
about Azerbaijan in German” calls “75 Azerbaycanişe
Lieder 'Bayaty' in der Mundart von Gence nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklaerung” an important work and
writes, “The associate professor of the chair of
History of the Turkish language of Istanbul
University and editor of the collection Azerbaijani
Studies, Jafaroghlu, who publishes in Istanbul in
English, has published an important study in the
collection of “Mitteilungen des Seminars fur
Orientalische Sprachen”, which is titled “75
Azerbaycanişe Lieder 'Bayaty' in der Mundart von
Gence nebst einer sprachlichen Erklaerung.” The fact
that the author is from Ganja by origin further adds to
the importance of that study” (9, p.30).
This work by Jafaroghlu was not the first work
devoted to the Azerbaijani bayatis published in
Europe. The French scholar O. Chatskaya, who was in
Ganja in 1926, collected the bayatis in Ganja and in
the neighboring villages as she heard them from the
mouths of native speakers. She even mentioned the
names of those native speakers. Jafaroghlu learned
about this fact approximately four years later from
“Quatraine populaires de L′Azerbaidjan” (10)
published by Chatskaya in Paris in 1928 in “Journal
Asiatique” with a preface by N.K. Dimitriev, and
issued a review of it in English in “Azerbaycan yurt
bilgisi” (“Knowledge concerning Azerbaijan”) in its
11th (November) issue.
Though the name of the country, Azerbaijan, is
mentioned in Chatskaya's article, the nationality was
introduced as Tatar, as in “Chansons populaires
Tatares” (“Tatar folk songs”). Jafaroghlu seriously
protested against the use of Tatar instead of
Azerbaijani and wrote: “Such a serious journal as
“Journal Asiatique,” which has studied the Orient
including the Turks, for a century, attempts to present
the Azerbaijani Turks as Tatars in the article titled
“Chansons populaires Tatares.” Unfortunately, this is
an attempt to force the old Russian approach on the
Azerbaijanis. To separate them from their brothers
living in Anadolu, this word has been forced into the
Azerbaijani environment. The word “Azerbaijani” is
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pronounced with great difficulty by the Russians;
there is no need to remind persons like Chatskaya and
Dimitriev, who call themselves scholars” (11, p.48).
Then, speaking about the philological aspects of that
article, Jafaroghlu writes: “Chatskaya's article
consists of 76 bayatis describing the Ganja dialect.
Transcribed based on her own pronunciation, she has
ascribed some of them to Ganja, and the rest to the
villages around the town. Therefore the same word
has been written in different forms, which causes
misunderstandings. Nevertheless, the article is fit to
be read and used. The real phonetic study of bayatis
belongs to Dimitriev. He has tried to explain the basic
elements of the Ganja dialect from a phonetic point of
view. Unfortunately, the explanations are superficial”
(12, p. 48).
Though Jafaroghlu writes that he has described
and studied the phonetic peculiarities of bayatis, he
has also given a good deal of space to their study from
the point of view of literary criticism. Therefore it is
necessary to describe the structure of that work for
readers. The third page of the work is entitled
“Vorwort” (Foreword), then comes “Einleitung”
(Introduction, p.4-9), followed by “Vokalismus”
(Phonetics, pp. 10-37) and “Texte in Transkription
mit Überselzing” which consists of transcriptions of
the texts in Azerbaijani and of their translations in
German (pp.38-49). The bayatis have been classified
into five groups: “Liebeslieder” (Bayatis of love),
no.1-46; “Trauerlieder” (bayatis of mourning), no.
47-60; “Wahrsagelieder” (fortune-telling bayatis),
no. 61-67; “Heimatlieder” (bayatis about the
motherland), no. 68-70; and “Lieder verschiedenen
Inhalts” (bayatis on various topics), no. 71-75. It may
be observed that love bayatis are given more space
than those in other categories. Though the main part of
the work was devoted to the linguistic issues of
Turkology, the foreword and introduction were
dedicated to the analysis of bayatis from the point of
view of literary criticism.
In the foreword of the work, Jafaroghlu notes that
materials concerning the languages used in various
territories populated by Turkic tribes had been
collected since the end of the 19th and the beginning
of the 20th centuries, and some of them had been
analyzed by European scholars, but the languages and
literatures of some Turkic peoples (such as those of
the Caucasian and Iranian Azeri Turks) had not been
investigated in the real sense of the word. The author
makes the inference that it would be necessary to
continue studies in this field.
The universal research methodology inherent to
Jafaroghlu's creative activity on the whole catches
readers' attention. Here the young research fellow
speaks of the etymology of the word bayati and its
being the name of a melody; about the metric and
genre peculiarities of the bayati; about its usage in
different ceremonies; and about completely different
peculiarities of the genre, even entering into polemics
with authors who had previously written about
bayatis, including the prominent Azerbaijani
intellectual and composer, Uzeyir Hajibeyli.
In investigating the etymology of the word bayati,
Jafaroghlu states that this word denotes the name of
God (Tanri) in Yusif Balasagunlu's “Kitadgu-bilig”
(Road to Knowledge), in Alishir Navoi, and in
Radlov's dictionary. However, in Mahmud
Kashghari's dictionary “Divani-lughat-it-turk”
(Turkish Dictionary Collection), it is cited as the
name of an Oghuz Turkic tribe. Jafaroghlu notes that
the word bayati is simply explained as the name of a
genre of songs of the Azerbaijani Turks as it was noted
in Huseyn Kazim's “Turk lughati” (Turkic
Dictionary). He comes to the conclusion that the word
bayati was taken from the name of the tribe of Bayat
as were the names of folk poetry genres Varsaghi
(from Varsag), Turkmeni (from Turkmen), Afshari
(from Afshar), and Gazakhi (from Gazakh). He also
mentions the use of this word in the names of
melodies like Bayati-Kurd, Bayati-Shahnaz, Bayati-
Shiraz, and Bayati-Gajar. He writes that from the
point of view of melodiousness, bayatis are not
connected to certain melodies. Thus, one bayati may
be sung to different melodies. Bayatis are sung by
common folk and are often combined with shikasta
by folk ashugs. “If Hajibeyli claims that these bayatis
are not sung in various ceremonies (wedding-parties,
funerals, etc.), but rather outside of homes, the cases
which I have seen tell quite a different story. I have
witnessed that bayatis are sung in such ceremonies as
well” (13, p.5). Jafaroghlu declares that he disagrees
with Hajibeyli, who in his article “A view on
Azerbaijani music” says that “shikasta and bayati are
sung in fields or in the woods; in one word, not at
home” (14, p.2; 15, p.219).
Jafaroghlu explains the metric and syllabic
features of bayati (which include a single quatrain
with seven poetic feet in each line and an a-a-b-a
rhyme scheme in the stanza) and draws attention to
the fact that this poetic genre of Azerbaijani folklore is
rich in content: “From the point of view of their
content, bayatis are very rich and variegated. There is
no topic left untouched by bayatis. Any event,
political view, new tradition or fashion, season of the
year, love, death, beauty of nature, etc., may be
glorified in bayatis. In the majority of cases, bayatis
are didactic in content and consist of proverbs aimed
at educating youth. No other genre of folk literature is
as rich in content as the bayati. They may also be
called the mirror of the life of the folk” (16, p.4).
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Jafaroghlu draws attention to the popularity of
bayatis among the people and writes that “bayatis are
passed from generation to generation and are alive
among the common people as well as among the
intelligentsia. They have won the love of the whole
nation; new bayatis emerge by imitating the old ones”
(17, p.4).
Another noteworthy aspect of the introduction of
this work is that the author has described the minute
details of bayatis in their use in funerals, ceremonies,
weddings, and holidays, including the Novruz
holiday. For instance, let us look at a type of fortune-
telling bayati called vesfi-hal (praise, description of
one's beauty or state): “In the early days of spring at
twilight, young ladies assemble in the yard, and a
bowl full of water covered with a veil is put in the
middle of the circle of ladies. Each lady desiring to
learn her fortune drops a ring or an article of jewelry
into the bowl as collateral. The leader of the
ceremony, who is an aged woman, pulls out the
articles from the bowl one by one in a manner that
nobody sees them. Each of her actions is followed by
singing a bayati, then she returns the article hidden in
her palm to its owner. From the bayati which the
leader of the ceremony sings, the young lady learns
her fortune. This kind of fortune-telling is popularly
known as vesfi-hal (18, p.9).
The Introduction describes a number of other
ceremonies in detail as well. Jafaroghlu points out that
bayatis occupy a wide and important place in the life
of the Azerbaijani people. He also gives information
on a number of other customs and traditions of the
Azerbaijani people.
Jafaroghlu's article “La Canzone del 'Sayagi'
nella letteratura popolare dell′ Azerbaigian”
published in Italy in 1936 speaks comprehensively
about the sayachi songs unknown in Europe until that
time. He had written about the bayatis himself and
was aware of Chatskaya's work on them. Concerning
the sayachi songs, at the beginning of the article he
particularly notes that the great literary critic of
Azerbaijan, Firudin bey Kocharli, published these
songs in 1910 and in 1912 (19, p.20). He also
published them in Russian for the first time, and as
examples of literature for children for the second
time; nevertheless, as he notes, “they did not attract
the attention of European researchers” (21, p.4).
Thus, with this article he took on the mission of
conveying information to European readers about
sayachi songs for the first time.
In his article entitled “La Canzone del 'Sayagi'
nella letteratura popolare dell′ Azerbaigian,”
Jafaroghlu gives comprehensive information about
the sayachi words, and he tries to particularly draw
attention to three elements and clarify them: the
relation of sayachi words with the epos of “Kitabi-
Dede Korkut”; identification of the personality of the
sayachi (the singer of sayachi songs); and etymology
of the word sayachi.
He compares some sayachi words with the words
used in the epos of “Kitabi-Dede Korkut” and notes
that there are similarities between them. He comes to
the conclusion that these words are either derivations
from “Kitabi-Dede Korkut”, that is, “substratum” as
he writes, or that they belong to the pre-“Kitabi-Dede
Korkut” period.
When he comes to the identification of the
personality of the sayachi, he first draws attention to
the definition of this word by Kocharli: sayachi is a
common nomad, who in the late months of autumn
and winter travels from village to village, sings his
sayachi songs, praises the animals of nomads and
pleases their owners, and collects solely food
products in compensation. We must note that
Kocharli himself published an article in September
1909 in the newspaper “Terekki” (“Progress”) from
the cycle of “The Lifestyle of the Nomads” entitled
“On Our Daily Life.” He wrote that cattle-breeders
sang songs in which they praised and soothed their
animals. “As a mother sweetly sings a lullaby for her
baby, the cattle-breeders and the breeders of sheep
glorified and praised the animals with their sweet
songs” (22, p.229). However, this simple and clear
definition of the personality of the sayachi singer does
not satisfy Jafaroghlu. He continues his studies and
comes to the conclusion that sayachi, that is, the
singer of the sayachi song, is an official who counts
the sheep to impose taxes on their owner. This tax is
called “sayim vergisi”, that is, “counting and
imposing taxes.” He also says that this type of tax was
not encountered in Azerbaijan; it appeared after the
conquest of Azerbaijan by the Ottoman Empire.
The scholar attempted to explain the etymology
of “sayachi” and logically came to the conclusion that
it derived from “sayim vergisi” (counting taxes),
which is also connected with the word “sayan”, that is,
the man who counts.
But in 1941, Jafaroghlu, in his work in French
entitled “Vestiges de moeurs nationales et
linguistiques dans notre folklore” (23) and in his
article entitled “La Canzone del 'Sayag′i' nella
letteratura popolare dell′ Azerbaigian,” rejects his
own view concerning the origin of the person of the
sayachi. He comes to the conclusion that sayachi is
not an official who counts the sheep in order to impose
taxes, but “a god who protects the flocks of livestock
and the property of nomads.” He is the only scholar
defending this suggestion. The considerations of
Kocharli concerning the personality of sayachi were
studied by the later generations of folklorists and in
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literary criticism and were confirmed. Though they
are not unanimous in the etymology of this word, they
think that there is no need to seek a heavenly force in
the personality of the sayachi; he is just a person who
sings folk songs on the topic of cattle-breeding.
We must note that our critical approach to
Jafaroghlu's definition of the person of the sayachi
does not damage the importance of his articles,
because, first of all, folklore-mythology as a sphere of
scientific study leaves room for the hypotheses of
scholars, and secondly, the aim of publication of
articles in French and Italian was to draw the attention
of the European Turkologists to this topic, which he
achieved successfully.
Jafaroghlu's articles on Azerbaijani folklore
published in foreign languages were of great
importance then, because, on the one hand, they
contributed to the propagation of the oral branch of
Azerbaijani literature, and on the other hand, they
were a means to introduce the Azerbaijani people to
the world. He knew that the folklore of any nation
contains matchless information about the
sociological, psychological and spiritual values of the
nation; therefore he attached special importance to
this sphere in his creative activity as a lover of his
nation. In his article entitled “Vestiges de moeurs
nationales et linguistiques dans notre folklore” he
wrote, “If we define folklore briefly, we can say that it
is just the nation and nothing else. This type of
literature, which has developed together with the life
of the nation and passed from generation to
generation orally to reach us, must always be
connected with the cultural level and the spiritual life
of that nation” (24).
LITERATURE
1. Caferoğlu A. Die moderne aserbaidscha-
nische Literatur /Altaistik, Erster Abschnitt, Turko-
logie, Bd. 5, (Herausgegeben von B. Spuler), Leiden /
Köln: E. J. Brill, 1963, S. 418-426
2. Caferoğlu A. Die moderne aserbaidschanische
Literatur /Altaistik, Erster Abschnitt, Turkologie, Bd.
5, (Herausgegeben von B. Spuler), Leiden / Köln: E.
J. Brill, 1982. S. 421-429
3. Caferoğlu A. Die moderne aserbaidschanische
Literatur.
http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk
_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-
alias%3Daps&fieldkeywords=caferoglu&x=0&y=0
4. Caferoğlu A. Die aserbeidschanische Literatur
/ Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta, Bd. II, Wiesba-
den: Stejnen, 1965, S. 635-699
5. Djaferoglu A. 75 Aserbaidschanische Lieder
“Bayaty” in der Mundart von Gandscha nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklarung. Mitteilungen des Seminars
fur Orientalische Sprachen II. Abt.Westasiatische
Studien (Berlin), XXXII (1929), 3, 55-79; XXXIII
(1930), S.105-129
6. Djaferoglu A. Aserbaidschanische Lieder
“Bayaty” in der Mundart von Gandscha nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklarung. Berlin: 1930, 49 S.
7. Caferoglu A. La Canzone del “Sayag′i” nella
letteratura popolare dell′ Azerbaigian / Annali del
Regoi İnstituto Superiore Orientale di Napoli. IX
(Dicembre 1936-XV), 25 p.
8. Caferoğlu A. Şarkta ve Qarpta Azeri lehcesi
tetkikleri-IV // Azerbaycan yurt bilgisi, 1934, № 30, s.
33-38
9. Yaschke G. Azerbaycan hakkında almanca
neşriyatdan // Azerbaycan yurt bilgisi, 1934, № 25, s.
27-31
10. O. Chatskaya. Quatraine populaires de
L′Azerbaijan // Journal Asiatique, 1928, № 2, p. 228-
265
11. Caferoğlu A. O. Chatskaya. Quatraine
populaires de L′Azerbaijan // Azebaycan Yurt Bilgisi,
1932, № 11, p. 48
12. Ibid.
13. Djaferoglu A. 75 Azärbajğanische Lieder
“Bayaty” in der Mundart von Ğänğä nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklärung. Berlin: 1930, 49 S.
14. Hacıbəyli Ü. Azərbaycan musiqi həyatına bir
nəzər // Maarif və mədəniyyət, 1926, № 1, s. 27-30
15. Hacıbəyov Ü. Azərbaycan musiqi həyatına
bir nəzər / Əsərləri: 10 cilddə, II c., Bakı: Azərbaycan
SSR EA Nəşriyyatı, 1965, s. 215-225
16. Djaferoglu A. 75 Azärbajğanische Lieder
“Bayaty” in der Mundart von Ğänğä nebst einer
sprachlichen Erklärung. Berlin: 1930, 49 S.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19.Кочарли Ф. Песни саячы / Сборник
материалов для описания местностей и племён
Кавказа. Тбилиси: 1910, с. 24-32
20. Köçərli F. Balalara hədiyyə. Bakı: 1912, s. 91-
99
21. Caferoglu A. La Canzone del “Sayagi” nella
letteratura popolare dell′ Azerbaigian / Annali del
Regoi İnstituto Superiore Orientale di Napoli. IX
(Dicembre 1936-XV), 25 p.
22. Köçərli F. Seçilmiş əsərləri. Bakı: Elm, 1963,
340 s.
23. Caferoğlu A. Vestiges de moeurs nationales
et linguistiques dans notre folklore. “Ankara” jour.,
İstanboul, 1941, 22 mai; 29 mai
24. Caferoğlu A. Vestiges de moeurs nationales
et linguistiques dans notre folklore. “Ankara” jour.,
İstanboul, 1941, 29 mai
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TƏBABƏT
Tədqiqatda 6-12 aylıq 216 uşaq iştirak edib. Uşaqlara oyuncaq küçüklərdən
əlcəkləri çıxarmağı öyrədiblər. Sonra balaca könüllülərin yarısını 30 dəqiqə
yatızdırıblar. Qalan körpələr oynamağa davam edib.
Alimlər uşaqların bu vərdişə nə dərəcədə yiyələnməsini 4 saatdan və bir
gündən sonra müqayisə ediblər. Məlum olub ki, məşqlərdən sonra yatıb
yuxusunu alan uşaqlar tapşırığın öhdəsindən daha yaxşı gəliblər.
Tədqiqatın müəllifi Sabina Sihagen bildirib ki, təlimdən sonra qısa yuxu
körpələrin yaddaşının uzun müddətə möhkəmlənməsinə kömək edir. O deyib:
“Eksperimentimiz göstərib ki, tapşırığın öhdəsindən yalnız çalışmadan sonra
azı 30 dəqiqə yatan uşaqlar gəliblər. Məşğələdən sonra uşağın 4 saat ərzində
yatmağı vacibdir”.
Almaniyanın Rur Universitetinin alimləri “Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences” jurnalında gündüz və gecə yuxusunun uşaq beyninə
təsirinin öyrənilməsinə həsr olunmuş tədqiqatın nəticələrini açıqlayıblar
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