Central Asia
Poets: aqyn Tuuganbay, Senior Master; Aaly aqyn, Pupil
Cinematography: Husniya Davlatyor, Nicole Galpern
Special Thanks: Endangered Language Alliance
To watch the full documentary, In the Moment: Poetry Duels and Improvisations click here.
Table of Contents
The Tradition
Aitysh/Aitys is a contest of improvised oral poetry, often passed down from one generation of singers to another commonly practiced in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and other Central Asian countries. In the Aitysh/Aitys tradition in Central Asia, performers are called aqyns/akyns. Two performers (akyns) trade improvised lines on topical themes competing in a battle of wits that can be, at turns, both funny and philosophical. Each akyn, sitting or standing across from one another, strums a folk instrument (Qomuz in Kyrgyz tradition and dombra in Kazakh tradition), and respond to one other in clever, rhymed, improvisational verses. Themes include contemporary events, complaints against politicians, healing (Badik), songs dedicated to women and brides. (Zhar-zhar), dealings between girls and boys, and religious topics. Musical skill, rhythm, wisdom, wit and originality are all highly valued. Great lines by an akyn often drift into common parlance. The Aitys tradition is listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Treasure. An invaluable resource for these tradition is the textbook Music of Central Asia and the accompanying website.
Field Notes
If we had had our druthers, money enough and time, we would have sailed the seven seas searching for and recording poetry duels and improvisations. Given that we had other responsibilities and limited resources, we were delighted to occasionally rely on fellow intrepid folklorists and colleagues to record or share poetry duels from places we could never get to. In 2018 Husniya Davlatyor from Tajikistan was serving as a Cultural Ambassador for City Lore, documenting Central Asian communities in New York. We knew when she documented a dumpling shop in the Central Asian community of Brighton Beach for a program at City Lore that her documentation skills were excellent.
In the summer of 2018, Husniya, who speaks a number of Central Asian languages, was asked by our colleagues at the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA) to travel to Tajikistan and Western China to help as a translator and documentarian. Knowing about her plans, we commissioned her to document poetry duels during her travels. Traveling with Ross Perlin and Nicole Galpern from ELA, she was able to attend and document a festival in Murghab where Kyrgyz and Tajiks came together to celebrate their traditions, as well as a young boy and girl playing Komuz instruments and exchanging lines from riddles at the festival (a form related to poetry duels in many cultures). She was also able to document mourning songs among a group of Wakhi women in traditional mourning garb.
In 2016, we asked professor Theodore Levin, an ethnomusicologist specializing in music, expressive culture, and traditional spirituality in Central Asia and Siberia, to speak to a group of teachers from across the US who came to City Lore as part of our NEH-funded teacher institute, A Reverence for Words: Understanding Muslim Cultures through the Arts. As part of his lecture at the Institute, he played a marvelous example of an aitysh poetry competition between Kyrgyz senior master agyn Tuuganbay and his pupil Aaly agyn. The piece was drawn from the extensive documentation conducted by the Aga Khan Music Programme in Central Asia. The Music Initiative was established in 2000 by His Highness the Aga Khan with the aim of assisting in the preservation of Central Asia’s musical heritage by ensuring its transmission to a new generation of artists and audiences, both inside the region and beyond its borders. It is an initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Theodore Levin was a leading ethnomusicologist for the program and gave us permission to use the performance in our documentary, In The Moment.
Resources
Music of Central Asia, by Mark Slobin (Author), Theodore Levin (Editor), Saida Daukeyeva (Editor), Elmira Köchümkulova (Editor), Aga Khan Music Initiative (Contributor). Indiana University Press, 2016.
Transcript
Tuuganbay:
Kagazsyz yrdy jat aytkan,
They improvised songs without paper [reading],
Takalyp kalbay bat aytkan.
And sang them fast without stumbling.
Toktogul, Kalyk, Jengijok,
I proudly pronounce the names of our fathers
Tolgop bir atang aty aytkan.
Toktogul, Kalyk, and Jengijok.
Alty sap menen bashtayly,
Let’s start our song with six verse lines,
Balam,
My son,
Akyl oy tynsyn tak aytkyn.
Speak clearly and delight the mind.
Aaly:
Talanttyn alpy taza aytkan,
These giant talents sang pure words.
Talanttyn kalpy pas aytkan.
Fake talents sang poor words.
Maktasa kökkö chygaryp
They praised [good people] by making them fly in the sky.
Jakpasa any kashaytkan.
They taught [bad people] a lesson by making them feel the heat,
Takalbay sizdey bash aytkan,
Elders like you spoke without stumbling.
Takalbay bizdey jash aytkan.
Youth like me spoke without stumbling.
Tuuganbay:
Alty sap menen jakshy ayttyng,
You did a god job with improvising the six-line verses.
Ar birin sözdün akty ayttyng.
You sang truth in each of your words.
Tört saptan emi bashtayly,
Let’s now sing with four-line verses,
Top kelsin baykap asta aytkyn.
Make sure that your words rhyme carefully.
Aaly:
Ata,
Father,
Ayt deding alty sapty ayttym,
You told me to sing a six-line-verse song, and I did,
A kayra tort dep bashka ayttyng.
Then you told me to sing a four-line song.
Eseptep ar bir sap yrdy,
By counting each verse line,
Atakeng,
My dear father,
Esti alyp közdü chakchayttyng.
You are making me scared.
Tuuganbay:
Aytkandy tuura kabyl al,
Understand me correctly,
Balam,
My son,
Akyn bol jurtung sagynar.
Be the beloved aqyn of your people.
Araket kylsang jakshylap,
If you try harder,
Ar jagy dele tabylar.
You will find the rest of the words.
Aaly:
Tak bilesinger baryngar,
You all know obviously that
Tayaktyng eki jagy bar.
A stick has two ends.
Eki saptan dep aytat,
We will switch now to a two-line-verse song,
Esingerge salyngar.
Pay attention to it.
Tuuganbay:
Poyuzdun eki jolu bar,
A train track has two rails,
Adamdyn eki kolu bar.
A man has two hands.
Aaly:
Pilus-minus eki san,
There is plus and minus
Elektrdin togu bar.
In electricity.
Tuuganbay:
Bardyk ele düynönün,
There is existence and non-existence
Bary menen jogu bar.
In this world.
Aaly:
Urgaachyny, erkekti
Don’t forget,
Ushunu da oyunga al.
There is female and male.
Tuuganbay:
Eki tashtan ot chygat,
Rubbing two rocks gives a spark,
Eki zymdan tok chygat.
Connecting two wires gives electricity.
Aaly:
Dary menen pistondon
Gunpowder and caps
“Dong!” dedirip ot chygat.
Make a loud “bang!”
Tuuganbay:
Barysh menen kelish bar,
There is going and coming.
Alysh menen berish bar.
There is taking and giving.
Aaly:
Tozok jana beyish bar,
There is hell and heaven.
Adyr jana tegiz bar.
There is hill and plain.
Tuuganbay:
Batysh menen chygysh bar,
There is west and east.
Jatysh menen turush bar.
There is sleeping and getting up.
Aaly:
Anda bir saptan yrga ötülü,
Now, let’s switch to a one-line song,
Mende mynday sunush bar.
This is my proposal.
Tuuganbay:
Asmandagy kün jalgyz.
There is only one sun in the sky.
Aaly:
Alla özüng bir jalgyz.
There is only one Allah [God].
Tuuganbay:
Andan kiyin kim jalgyz?
What else is only one?
Aaly:
Aysyz kara tün jalgyz.
A night without the moon is alone.
Tuuganbay:
Asmandagy ay jalgyz.
The moon in the sky is alone
Aaly:
A düynödö jay jalgyz.
The place in the other world is alone.
Tuuganbay:
Aylanyp turgan jer jalgyz.
The circling earth is alone.
Aaly:
Baylanyp turgan er jalgyz.
A tied-up man [hero] is alone.
Tuuganbay:
Bir sapty eki bölölü.
Let’s divide the verse line into two.
Aaly:
Anda biyagyn aytyp korolü.
- Let’s try to sing that way.
T-A: Eki tering–ton bolboyt.
Two sheep hides–can’t make a coat.
T-A: Eki tyyyn–som bolboyt.
Two coins–can’t be called money.
T-A: Uy terisi–ton bolboyt.
A cowhide–can’t be a coat.
T-A: Urushchaak kishi–chong bobloyt.
A quarrelsome person–can’t succeed.
T-A: Dümürü jok–bak bolboyt.
A tree without roots–can’t be a tree.
T-A: Dülöy kishi–sak bolboyt.
A deaf person–can’t be cautious.
T-A: Afiriste–ar bolboyt.
A liar–has no shame.
T-A: Afrikada–kar bolboyt.
Africa–has no snow.
T-A: Uzartyp emi–sozpoylu.
Let’s not sing–too long.
T-A: Ushunu menen–toktoylu.
Let’s stop–here.
Transcript from In the Moment: Poetry Duels and Improvisations
Improvised songs of celebration and mourning in Central Asia.
HUSNIYA DAVATYOR
I was born and raised in Palmiere (sp) in Tajikistan, and I speak all the Palmiere languages which are Wachi, Shugni, Rushani, Bartangi and I’m learning Kashimi (sp).
HUSNIYA
Welcome to the Murgab (sp) district. We are very happy to see.
HUSNIYA
Me and my colleagues went toTajikistan, the whole Palmiere region. We were able to attend a festival where Tajiks and Kyrges get together and show their culture, their music, various traditional games especially horse racing. A Kyrge’s man who was improvising on the stage – he was playing kamuz, kamuz is a traditional Kyrge’s instrument. He was praising Murgab – it’s known as a place where there are no trees or flower but he sees it in a different way.
HUSNIYA
We were able to talk to a younger girl and boy who sing Aytish. It is a teasing tradition. While they were improvising, the girl would ask a question and he would respond.
AYTISH BOY AND GIRL
Who is flying through the long road?
Who is running day and night telling stories?
Who knows how long the day and night is?
Who knows the tasted of sweet and bitter?
Who is cursed until death?
Who is receiving all the blessings?
The longest road belongs to the caravans.
The hunter runs day and night.
The salesman knows how long the day and night it.
Chefs know the taste of bitter and sweet.
Wolves are the ones who are cursed until death
And the poor people are blessed.
HUSNIYA
Poetry and music plays such a big role in preserving endangered languages. In the Palmiere region around Tajikistan those Palmiere languages are considered as endangered languages – and they are not written. And historically how they passed from one generation to another is through music and through poems.
AYTISH DUEL
HAKIM
And they sung them fast without stumbling
ALI
These giant talents
Sang pure words
They praised [good people]
By making them fly in the sky
HUSNIYA
They start with six lines. Then they shorten it to four lines. Then to two lines, then one line and they end it.
HAKIM
You did a good job
Improvising the six-line verses
HUSNIYA
Although there are so many rules and constraints they have to follow – by doing that it makes them also creative.
ALI
Father, you told me to sing a six-line-verse song,
and I did,
Then you told me to sing a four-line song,
by counting each verse line,
My dear father, you are making me scared.
HAKIM
A train track has two rails,
A man two hands,
Let’s divide the verse line into two
ALI
OK let’s try to sing it that way
HAKIM
Two sheep hides
ALI
Can’t make a coat
HAKIM
Two coins
ALI
Can’t be called money
HAKIM
Let’s not sing
Ali:
Too long.
HAKIM
Let’s stop
ALI
Here
EDWARD HIRSCH
Certain experiences have a certain seriousness and depth whether mournful or celebratory that human communities want to mark them separately and we recreate rituals for them – it turns out that for these occasions ordinary language does not seem to do – no one seems satisfied to speak in the way we ordinarily speak at a wedding, a birth or a death—we seem to need to mark this with some kind of heightened language and a tremendous literature has arisen around these occasions.
KYRGESTAN MOURNERS
WOMEN MOURNERS
Oh death has chopped so many people’s hearts
WOMAN #2
When a person dies they lie him or her on a platform [inside the house]. Someone starts wailing and others join in and sit around the dead person. Whatever that person has done [in his or her life] they talk about it all until the body is taken to the graveyard. Before I didn’t know how to wail and express the sorrow but after my mother’s death I learned how to moan. Some phrases we use from books, from each other orally but mostly we improvise and use our own words.
WOMAN #1
Oh dear Olim, you have left your mother in this world.
