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# '''Le conoscenze di Dede Korkut''':
=== Storia del manoscritto ===
===Manuscript tradition===
Già dall'inizio del diciottesimo secolo il ''Libro di Dede Korkut'' è stato tradotto in francese, inglese e russo. Tuttavia, il libro ha attirato l'attenzione del pubblico europeo solamente dopo una traduzione parziale del 1815 in tedesco ad opera di H.F. Von Diez, che tradusse un manoscritto trovato nella Libreria Reale di Dresda. L'unico altro manoscritto esistente del ''Libro di Dede Korkut'' venne scoperto nel 1950 da Ettore Rossi nella Biblioteca Vaticana. Gli eventi del libro vennero tramandati a lungo nella tradizione orale prima di essere impressi su carta, in prosa ornata di passaggi poetici. Una recente ricerca condotta da studenti turchi rivela che esiste una variante turcomanna dell'opera, contenente ben sedici storie, che sarebbe stata trascritta e pubblicata nel 1998.
Since the early 18th century, the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' has been translated into French, English, and Russian.<ref>Bentinck, Histoire Genealogique des Tatars, 2 vols. (Leiden, 1726).</ref><ref>Abu Al Ghazi Bahadur, A History of the Turks, Moguls, and Tatars, Vulgarly called Tartars, Together with a Description of the Countries They Inhabit, 2 vols. (London, 1730)</ref> However, it was not until it caught the attention of H.F. Von Diez, who published a partial German translation of Dede Korkut in 1815, based on a manuscript found in the Royal Library of [[Dresden]],<ref>[http://digital.slub-dresden.de/ppn280873166 Kitab-i Dedem Korkut – Mscr.Dresd.Ea.86 digital]</ref> that ''Dede Korkut'' became widely known to the West. The only other manuscript of ''Dede Korkut'' was discovered in 1950 by Ettore Rossi in the [[Vatican Library]].<ref>[http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.turc.102 Kitab-i Dedem Korkut – Vat. turc. 102 digital]</ref> Until ''Dede Korkut'' was transcribed on paper, the events depicted therein survived in the oral tradition, at least from the 9th and 10th centuries. The "Bamsi Beyrek" chapter of ''Dede Korkut'' preserves almost verbatim the immensely popular Central Asian dastan [[Alpamysh]], dating from an even earlier time. The stories were written in prose, but peppered with poetic passages. Recent research by Turkish and Turkmen scholars revealed, that the Turkmen variant of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' contains sixteen stories, which have been transcribed and published in 1998.<ref>[http://mtad.humanity.ankara.edu.tr/II-4_Aralik2005/oz2-42005/2-4oz_59merdem.htm Prof. Melek Erdem, Ankara University, "On the Connection with the Manuscripts of Turkmenistan Variant of Dede Korkut Epics". ''Journal of Modern Turkish Studies'' (2005), 2/4:158-188]</ref>
=== Datare la composizione ===
===Dating the composition===
L'opera nasce grazie alla raccolta di storie tramandate oralmente nella tradizione per intere generazioni. Esistono numerose versioni delle storie; si pensa che le prime versioni fossero interamente in versi ma che con l'andare del tempo si sia dato maggiore spazio ad opere in versi e prosa, essendo stata l'opera influenzata dalla cultura islamica.
The work originated as a series of epics orally told and transferred over the generations before being published in book form. There are numerous versions collected of the stories. It is thought that the first versions were in natural verse, since Turkish is an agglutinative language, but that they gradually transformed into combinations of verse and prose as the Islamic elements affected the narrative over time.
Sono state proposte numerose date per trovare quella giusta risalente alla prima opera scritta. Geoffrey Lewis sostiene che la stesura del testo risalga ai primi anni del 15° secolo e che raccolga due gruppi di storie: quelle che raccontano delle guerre tra i Turcomanni e i loro nemici (Peceneghi e Qipchaq) e quelle che parlano delle campagne militari degli Aq Qoyunlu del 14° secolo; l'ipotesi che l'opera risalga a queste date è sostenuta anche da Cemal Kafadar, docente di lingua turca all'università di Harvard. Stanford Jay Shaw sostiene invece che l'opera sia databile al 14° secolo. Altri studiosi sono invece indecisi su più opzioni, come il professor Michael E. Meeker, il quale sostiene che la versione orale delle storie non sia più antica del 13° secolo, mentre che la versione scritta sia del 15° secolo. Quel che è certo è che la storia numero 8 esisteva già nel 14° secolo nella tradizione scritta araba: si tratta della storia ''Durar al-Tijan'', scritta in Egitto tra il 1309 e il 1340, e mai pubblicata.
Various dates have been proposed for the first written copies. [[Geoffrey Lewis (Turkish scholar)|Geoffrey Lewis]] dates it fairly early in the 15th century,<ref name="Kafadar">{{harvp|Kafadar|1996}}</ref> with two layers of text: a substratum of older oral traditions related to conflicts between the Oghuz and the [[Pechenegs|Pecheneks]] and [[Kipchaks]] and an outer covering of references to the 14th-century campaigns of the [[Ag Qoyunlu|Akkoyunlu Confederation]].<ref name="Meeker">Michael E. Meeker, "The Dede Korkut Ethic", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 24, No. 3 (Aug., 1992), 395–417. "According to Lewis (1974), an older substratum of these oral traditions dates to conflicts between the ancient Oghuz and their Turkish rivals in Central Asia (the Pecheneks and the Kipchaks), but this substratum has been clothed in references to the 14th-century campaigns of the Akkoyunlu Confederation of Turkic tribes against the Georgians, the Abkhaz, and the Greeks in Trebizond."</ref> Cemal Kafadar agrees that it was no earlier than the 15th century since "the author is buttering up both the [[Akkoyunlu]] and the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rulers".{{#tag:ref|"It was not earlier than the 15th century. Based on the fact that the author is buttering up both the Akkoyunlu and Ottoman rulers, it has been suggested that the composition belongs to someone living in the undefined border region lands between the two states during the reign of [[Uzun Hassan]] (1466–78). G. Lewis on the hand dates the composition 'fairly early in the 15th century at least'."<ref name="Kafadar"/>|group=Note}} However, in his history of the Ottoman Empire, [[Stanford J. Shaw|Stanford Jay Shaw]] (1977) dates it in the 14th century.{{#tag:ref|"The greatest folk product of the 14th century was the prose collection of Dede Korkut, the oldest surviving examples of Oghuz Turkmen epic. ''Dede Korkut'' relates the struggles of Turkmens with the [[Georgians]] and [[Abazas|Abkhaza Circassians]] in the Caucasia as well as with the Byzantine [[Empire of Trebizond]], adding stories of relationships and conflicts within Turkomen tribes."<ref>Stanford Jay Shaw, ''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey'', Cambridge University, 1977, pg 141.</ref>|group=Note}} Professor Michael E. Meeker argues for two dates, saying that the versions of the stories we have today originated as folk stories and songs no earlier than the 13th century and were written down no later than the early the 15th century.{{#tag:ref|"''The Book of Dede Korkut'' is an early record of oral [[Turkish Folklore|Turkic folktales]] in [[Anatolia]], and as such, one of the mythic charters of Turkish nationalist ideology. The oldest versions of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' consist of two manuscripts copied in the 16th century. The twelve stories that are recorded in these manuscripts are believed to be derived from a cycle of stories and songs circulating among [[Turkic peoples]] living in northeastern Anatolia and northwestern [[Azerbaijan]]. According to Lewis (1974), an older substratum of these oral traditions dates to conflicts between the ancient Oghuz and their Turkish rivals in Central Asia (the Pecheneks and the Kipchaks), but this substratum has been clothed in references to the 14th-century campaigns of the Akkoyunlu Confederation of Turkic tribes against the Georgians, the Abkhaz, and the Greeks in Trebizond. Such stories and songs would have emerged no earlier than the beginning of the 13th century, and the written versions that have reached us would have been composed no later than the beginning of the 15th century. By this time, the Turkic peoples in question had been in touch with Islamic civilization for several centuries, had come to call themselves "Turcoman" rather than "Oghuz," had close associations with sedentary and urbanized societies, and were participating in Islamized regimes that included nomads, farmers, and townsmen. Some had abandoned their nomadic way of life altogether."<ref name="Meeker"/>|group=Note}} At least one of the stories (Chapter 8) existed in writing at the beginning of the 14th century, from an unpublished [[Arabic language|Arabic]] [[history]], Dawadari's ''Durar al-Tijan'', written in [[Egypt]] some time between 1309 and 1340.<ref>{{harvp|Lewis|1974|p=21}}</ref>
Datare precisamente il libro è impossibile a causa della natura nomade delle popolazioni turche, tra le quali le storie venivano tramandate grazie alla tradizione orale. A causa di ciò, è anche impossibile trovarne un autore autentico, essendo le storie state narrate da molti, ognuno col proprio stile e le proprie variazioni. Alcuni tra i più autorevoli esperti di narrativa turca antica e racconti turchi, quali Vasily Bartold e Geoffrey Lewis, sostengono che il ''Libro di Dede Korkut'' ha molti aspetti caratteristici della lingua Azeri, dialetto turco parlato in Azerbaijan.
A precise determination is impossible to come by due to the nomadic lifestyle of the early [[Turkic people]], in which epics such as Dede Korkut passed from generation to generation in an oral form. This is especially true of an epic book such as this, which is a product of a long series of narrators, any of whom could have made alterations and additions, right down to the two 16th-century scribes who authored the oldest extant manuscripts.<ref>{{harvp|Lewis|1974|pp=20–21}}</ref> The majority of scholars of ancient Turkic epics and folk tales, such as Russian-Soviet academician [[Vasily Bartold]] and British scholar [[Geoffrey Lewis Lewis|Geoffrey Lewis]], believe that the ''Dede Korkut'' text "exhibits a number of features characteristic of [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]], the Turkish dialect of Azerbaijan".<ref>{{harvp|Lewis|1974|pp=22}}</ref>
== Trattamento Sovietico ==
==Soviet treatment==
Molti dei luoghi descritti nel ''Libro di Dede Korkut'' sono parte del territori oche componeva l'Unione Sovietica, in cui nella prima metà del XX secolo ancora non si mostrava molto interesse per l'epica turca. Lo storico turco Hasan Bülent Paksoy sostiene che dall'ascesa di Stalin si è via via instaurato un vero e proprio tabù sulla storia e sulla cultura legate alla turcologia., chiamando l'ideologia del tempo un "assalto ideologico". Le prime stampe del ''Libro di Dede Korkut'' in Russia sono datate 1939 e 1950, anni dopo i quali si sviluppò la condanna ufficiale dei Dastan dell'Asia Centrale. Ciò che veniva condannato nel ''Dede Korkut'' era una presunta spinta al nazionalismo borghese, dannoso e antipopolare, il quale poteva spingere il popolo contro i nuovi alleati dell'Unione Societica, armeni e georgiani.
The majority of the Turkic peoples and lands described in the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' were part of the [[USSR|Soviet Union]] from 1920 until 1991, and thus most of the research and interest originated there. The attitude towards the Book of Dede Korkut and other dastans related to the Turkic peoples was initially neutral.
Tuttavia, si pubblicarono alcuni ''dastan'' come Alpamysh, pubblicato dal 1957. I ''dastan'' pubblicati erano privi della condanna morale persino nella ''Grande Enciclopedia Russa''.
[[Turkey|Turkish]] historian [[Hasan Bülent Paksoy]] argues that after Stalin solidified his grip on power in the USSR, and especially in the early 1950s, a taboo on [[Turkology]] was firmly established. He observes that the first full-text Russian edition of the Book of Dede Korkut, by Azerbaijani academicians [[Hamid Arasly|Hamid Arasli]] and M.G.Tahmasib and based on the Barthold translation of the 1920s, was published on a limited basis only in 1939 and again in 1950.<ref name="aton.ttu.edu">[http://aton.ttu.edu/Introduction_to_DEDE_KORKUT.asp Prof. H.B.Paksoy (ed.), "Introduction to Dede Korkut" (As Co-Editor), ''Soviet Anthropology and Archeology'', Vol. 29, No. 1. Summer 1990; and, "M. Dadashzade on the Ethnographic Information Concerning Azerbaijan Contained in the Dede Korkut dastan", ''Soviet Anthropology and Archeology'', Vol. 29, No. 1. Summer 1990. Reprinted in H. B. Paksoy (Ed.), ''Central Asia Reader: The Rediscovery of History'' (New York/London: M. E. Sharpe, 1994), ISBN 1-56324-201-X (Hardcover); ISBN 1-56324-202-8 (pbk.)]</ref><ref>{{harvp|Barthold|1962|pp=5–8}}</ref> He asserts, "Turk scholars and literati (who raised the same issues) were lost to the Stalinist 'liquidations' or to the 'ideological assault' waged on all dastans in 1950–52."<ref name="aton.ttu.edu"/> According to Paksoy, this taboo of the early 1950s was also expressed in the "Trial of Alpamysh" (1952–1957), when "all dastans of Central Asia were officially condemned by the Soviet state apparatus".
Alcuni problemi si verificarono con la ripubblicazione del ''Libro di Dede Korkut'' nel 1985 in lingua azera, accettata solamente nel 1988.
Soviet authorities criticized ''Dede Korkut'' for promoting [[bourgeois nationalism]]. In a 1951 speech delivered at the 18th Congress of the [[Azerbaijani Communist Party]], Azerbaijani communist leader [[Mir Jafar Baghirov]] advocated expunging the epic from [[Azerbaijani literature]], calling it a "harmful" and "antipopular book" that "is shot through with the poison of nationalism, chiefly against the [[Georgians|Georgian]] and [[Armenians|Armenian]] brother-peoples."<ref>"Report by Comrade M[ir] D[zhafar Abbasovich] Bagirov at 18th Congress of Azerbaidzhan Communist Party on the Work of the Azerbaidzhan Communist Party Central Committee," ''Current Digest of the Russian Press'' No. 24, Vol. 23 (July 28, 1951), 8.</ref>
==Celebrazioni UNESCO==
Nevertheless, the publication of dastans did not wholly cease during that period, as editions of ''Alpamysh'' were published in 1957, 1958 and 1961,<ref>"Alpamysh" entry in ''Bol'shaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya'' (the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'', third edition) [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/021/110.htm]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> as they had been in 1939, 1941, and 1949;<ref>''Alpamysh'' entry in ''Bol'shaya sovetskaya entsiklopediya'' (the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'', second edition)</ref> the entry on dastans in the second edition of the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' (volume 13, 1952) does not contain any "condemnation" either.<ref>"Dastan" in ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', second edition. See also "Dastan" [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/019/701.htm]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} entry in the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'', third edition.</ref> Despite the liberalization of the political climate after the [[20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|denunciation of Stalinism]] by [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in February 1956, the same "Barthold" edition of the ''Book of Dede Korkut'' was re-published only in 1962 and in 1977. Problems persisted all the way to [[perestroika]], when the last full edition in [[Azerbaijani language]] was sent for publication on July 11, 1985, but received permission for printing only on February 2, 1988.<ref name="aton.ttu.edu"/>
Nel 2000, la Repubblica azera e l'UNESCO hanno festeggiato i milletrecento anni di storia del ''Libro di Dede Korkut'', che è stato elogiato come opera vettore delle realtà storiche, geografiche, politiche, sociali, linguistiche e letterarie degli antichi popoli turchi, realtà mantenute vive grazie all'oralità per secoli. Nella stessa occasione venne rimarcata la grande importanza del fattore orale nella tradizione degli antichi popoli turchi.
==UNESCO celebrations==
Nel 1999 la Banca Nazionale dell'Azerbaijan ha coniato monete commemorative per il milletrecentesimo anniversario dell'opera
In 1998, the Republic of [[Azerbaijan]] and [[UNESCO]] nominated, and in 2000 celebrated, the "One thousand three hundredth anniversary of the epic Azerbaijani legend Kitab-i Dede Qorqud".<ref>[http://erc.unesco.org/cp/cp.asp?country=AZ&language=E UNESCO website, accessed March 19, 2007] [http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18568&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Celebration of anniversaries with which UNESCO was associated since 1996, UNESCO website, accessed March 19, 2007]</ref> In 2000, the General Director of UNESCO remarked: "Epics – and I have in mind in particular that of the Turkish-speaking peoples attributed to ''Dede Korkut'', perpetuated by oral tradition up to the 15th century before being written down...are vectors of the historical, geographical, political, social, linguistic and literary references of the peoples whose history they relate. Although many of these epics have already been noted down, the oral and gestural skills of the storytellers and griots who keep them alive should also be immortalized without delay. The matter is urgent."<ref>[http://aton.ttu.edu/unesco_dede_korkut.asp UNESCO, Address by Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the information meeting with the Permanent Delegations on the project "Proclamation of masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity". UNESCO, 5 May 2000]</ref><ref>[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001405/140551e.pdf Another mention of ''Dede Korkut'' by Mr. Matsuura is made in August 2005]</ref>
Since 1956, UNESCO has commemorated historic events and the anniversaries of eminent personalities celebrated by Member States and Associate Members, in order to give them worldwide significance.<ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15373&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO website]</ref> Azerbaijan announced the Kitab-i Dede Qorqud as its first "Celebration of anniversaries" in 1998.<ref>[http://erc.unesco.org/cp/cp.asp?country=AZ&language=E UNESCO website]</ref>
In 1999 the [[National Bank of Azerbaijan]] minted gold and silver [[commemorative coin]]s for the 1,300th anniversary of the epic.<ref>[http://www.cbar.az Central Bank of Azerbaijan]. Commemorative coins. [http://www.cbar.az/pages/national-currency/commemorative-coins/1992-2010/ Coins produced within 1992–2010]: Gold and silver coins dedicated to 1300th anniversary of epos "Kitabi – Dede Gorgud". – Retrieved on 25 February 2010.</ref>
==See also==
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