Azerbaijani fairy tales are works of folklore by the

Azerbaijani people Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...

. They vary in context and subject and include tales from the heroic past of the Azerbaijani people and struggles with local and foreign oppressors. Spiritual, moral, social and philosophical views are reflected throughout these tales. The tales hand down ancient national traditions and customs whilst depicting the natural beauty of Azerbaijan; its green valleys and pastures, magnificent mountains, purling rivers and blossoming gardens.

History

According to Horst Wilfrid Brands in ''

Enzyklopädie des Märchens The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' (''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') is a German reference work on international Folkloristics, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It examines over two ...

'', there exists some connection between the narrative corpus of Azerbaijan and Turkey (even Turkmenistan). The first recorded fairy tales are found in the heroic Oghuz Kitabi Dede Korkut ("The book of grandfather Korkut") of the 10th-11th centuries. For instance, there is a narrated tale about a monster-man who eats "two people and five thousand sheep" per day in Tepegoz's (a translation from Turkish – Cyclop) story.

Characters

''Jirtdan'' is the most popular fairy tale character among children's tales in Azerbaijan, meaning "small" when translated from Azerbaijani. Many fairy tales are based on this character, who is distinguished for his keenness of wit, courage and bravery. He can simultaneously be an idler, but also very brave. The ''

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'' ('giant') is another popular character. Little Jirtdan acquires courage and bravery when he meets Div. Another popular character of the Azerbaijani tale corpus is hero ''Mälik Mähämmäd'' (or ''Mälikmämmäd'').

Types

Azerbaijani fairy tales are divided into three types in essence and content: fairy tales about animals, fairy tales about common people and magic fairy tales.

Azerbaijani fairy tales abroad

The second edition of ''National fairy-tales from Azerbaijan'' was published by Verlag Dr.Koster Publishing House (

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) on the initiative of the Azerbaijani embassy in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Liliane Grimm is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n researcher of Azerbaijani studies and author and translator of the book, whose first acquaintance with Azerbaijan was held at an exhibition of Azerbaijani artists in

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. Seventeen national fairy tales of Azerbaijan and ''The fox’s pilgrimage'' (parable by

Abdulla Shaig Abdulla Shaig ( az, Abdulla Şaiq) (25 February 1881, Tbilisi – 24 July 1959, Baku), born Abdulla Mustafa oglu Talibzadeh, was an Azerbaijani writer. Early life and education Shaig was born to Marneuli-native Azerbaijani parents, Mustaf ...

) were included in the book. ''The Tales of Malik-Mammed'', a play written for children by

Chris Bartlett (writer) Chris Bartlett (born in Bridgend, Wales on 25 August 1976) is a Cheshire-based playwright and arts journalist. Plays Along with Nick Awde, he co-wrote the stage play '' Pete and Dud: Come Again'', a hit at the Assembly Rooms at the 2005 Edinburgh ...

inspired by Azerbaijani fairy tales, ran at

Chelsea Theatre Chelsea Theatre is a studio theatre located on the Kings Road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. ...

in London in March 2015 as part of th
Buta Festival

Characters

* Jirtdan * Tig-tig khanim * Tepegoz * Malikmammad * * Goychak Fatma

References

Bibliography

* Brands, Horst Wilfrid.
Aserbaidschan
zerbaijan, Narrative Tradition in In: ''

'' Band 1: Aarne – Bayerischer Hiasl. Edited by Kurt Ranke; Hermann Bausinger; Wolfgang Brückner; Max Lüthi; Lutz Röhrich; Rudolf Schenda. De Gruyter, 2016

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pp. 861-865. . ; Folktale collections: * Зейналлы, Ханефи; Багрий, Александр Васильевич. "Азербайджанские тюркские сказки" airy Tales of the Azerbaijani Turks Academia, 1935.

* Agirel, Seyfi. “Colour Symbolism in Turkish and Azeri Folk Literature”. In: ''Folklore'' 120, no. 1 (2009): 92–101. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40646493. * Aliyev, Oruj. (2021). "On the Symbolism of Numbers Three, Seven and Forty in Azerbaijani Folk Storie»s". In: ''Revista Conrado'' 17 (78), 121-26. https://conrado.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/conrado/article/view/1651. * Hasanova, Valida. "ПУБЛІКАЦІЯ АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСЬКИХ НАРОДНИХ КАЗОК" HE PUBLICATION OF THE AZERBAIJAN FOLK TALES In: ''The Ethnology Notebooks''. 2018, 2 (140), 385—390. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2018.02.385. * oglu Huseynov, Bilal Huseynaga (2022). "Changes in Azerbaijani Folklore (structural and Thematic Possibilities of the Genre)". In: ''Revista Conrado'' 18 (87), 331-35. https://conrado.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/conrado/article/view/2534. * Khudaverdiyeva, T.
Toponyms in the Organization of the Azerbaijani Folktale Space
. In ''Akademik Tarih ve Düşünce Dergisi'' 9 (2022): 168-186. * Mohammadi, Ramin, and Seyed Majid Alavi Shooshtari. “Gender Criticism in the Azerbaijani Turkic Folktale of the Book of Dede Korkut”. In: ''Enthymema'', n. XXIX, 2022, pp. 62-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.54103/2037-2426/16030 https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/enthymema * Sattarov, Rufat. "Between the Supernatural and the Natural: Aspects of Religious Beliefs among the Azerbaijani Turks". In: ''Man and Nature in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 49th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Berlin, July 30 – August 4, 2006''. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2020. pp. 299-312. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112208885-036

External links

(English site) Collections of fairy tales Azerbaijani literature Azerbaijani folklore {{Europe-myth-stub

History

Characters

Types

Azerbaijani fairy tales abroad

Characters

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links