KHIKAYAT
KHIKAYAT (from Arabic “narration” is a literature term used in Near, Middle East and South-Western Asia denoting every large prose or poetic story with a plot. The narrow meaning of the term is a minor epic genre based on a folklore plot (fairytale, legend, lore) or historical fact. Its size can be compared with a short story or a novella. Its main characteristics are romantic style, impenetrable plot (with fantasy, satire and didactic elements). There are framed stories which include several K. in Bashkir literature and classic literature written in Turkic language: “Aldar and Zukhra”, “Bakhtiyarname”, “Gulistan bit-tyurki”, “Mazhmag al-khikayat” etc. Bashkir K. dated back to late 19th -early 20th c. is realistic, it is connected with Bashkir reality: “Khikayat about a bear”, “Iblis and shaytans” etc. K. based on historical events appeared during the Soviet period: “Isenbike-tash”, “Mitroshka’s stone” by G. Gumer, “Salavat’s bridge” by A.K. Vakhitov, etc. There are classical modern Bashkir K., such as “Love and hate” (1964; in Russian translation 1988), “Master and apprentice” (1965) by Z.A. Biisheva. The events and character’s actions are estimated from the point of view of general human moral and ethics there.
M.Kh. Idelbayev, Z.Y. Saripova
