The mouse motif in Crimean Karaim folklore
Abstract
This article provides a review of six versions of a song Sıçan (‘Mouse’) which can be found in the mejumas, i.e. Crimean Karaim collections of popular literature, together with an edition of three hitherto unpublished versions. This humorous ditty describes the damage caused by a malicious rodent. The oldest version can be dated precisely to 1864, while the latest appeared in 1964. The many differences in the sequence of stanzas, motifs and their details indicate that the content of the mejumas was most probably not transcribed (copied from one manuscript to another), but rather constitutes a written record of an oral performance either heard directly or based on memory. Striking similarities between the Crimean Karaim variants and the Crimean Tatar ones, as well as variants found in the popular repertoire of Anatolia and Balkans, especially the version recorded by I. Kunos in 1880s, suggests that this particular song originates from Turkey and it appears very likely that Karaims who maintained particularly close religious, economic and also family ties with their co-believers in Istanbul may have been responsible for “importing” it from Turkey to Crimea.
Keywords:
Crimean Karaim literature, Crimean popular literature, Crimean Karaim folklore, Anatolian Turkish popular literature, türkü songsReferences
References
Aliev, Fevzi. 2001. Antologiâ krymskoj narodnoj muzyki. Simferopol’. Google Scholar
Aqtay, Gulayhan. 2009. Eliyahu Ben Qılcı’s Anthology of Crimean Karaim and Turkish Litera-ture. Vol. I Introduction, Text and Indexes. Vol. II Facsimile. İstanbul. Google Scholar
Aqtay, Gülayhan, Jankowski, Henryk. 2015. A Crimean Karaim-English Dictionary. Poznań 2015. Google Scholar
Baader, Fritz Henning. 1999. Kurzwort- und Abkürzungslexikon Hebräisch-Deutsch und Hebräisch-English. Schömberg. Google Scholar
Baskakov, N. A., Zajončkovskij, A., Šapšal S. M. (red.). 1974. Karaimsko-russko-pol’skij slovar’. Moskva. Google Scholar
Çulha, Tülay. 2010. Kırım Karaycasının Katık Mecuması. Metin-Sözlük-Dizin. İstanbul. Google Scholar
Çulha, Tülay. (ed.). 2015. Kuzey Türk Boylarının Halk Edebiyatından Örnekler. Derleyip çeviren Dr. W. Radloff. VII. Bölüm. Kırım Ağızları. Ankara. Google Scholar
Çulha, Tülay. 2017. Seyfü’l-Mülûk ile Bediü’l-Cemâl Hikâyesi (Kırım Karay Rivayeti). Ankara. Google Scholar
Dağcı, Cengiz. 1974. Onlar da insandı. İstanbul. Google Scholar
Demirci, Yusuf Ziya. 1938. Anadolu Köylerinin Türküleri. İstanbul. http://www.edebiyatvesanatakademisi.com/Siirler/Detay/sican-turkusu-sicanimin-sirti-38031.aspx (dostęp: 2017-04-20). Google Scholar
El’âševič, Boris Saadievič. 1993. Karaimskij biografičeskij slovar’ (ot końca VIII v. do 1960 g.). Materialy k serii „Narody i kul’tury”. Vypusk XIV. Karaimy. Kniga 2. Moskwa, Google Scholar
Jankowski, Henryk. 2005. Reading Loose Sheets of Paper Found Among the Pages of Karaim Mejumas. „Mediterranean Language Review” 16: 145–166. Google Scholar
Kefeli, Oleksandr. 1998. Kazka pro ledačogo chlopcia. Karaims’ka narodna kazka. Dönbel ulannyñ yomağı. Qarayım halq yomağı. W: Stežkami premudrych kazok. Narodny kazky, Kyjiv: 86–99 Google Scholar
Kefeli, Rachil S. 1910. Atalar sozy. Sankt-Peterburg. Google Scholar
Kokenaj, Boris. 1933. Ata sezłeri Kryrymły Karajłarnyn. „Karaj Awazy” 8: 19–22 Google Scholar
Kozłowska, Maria. 2006. Słownik turecko-polski. Türkce-Lehçe sözlük. Warszawa. Google Scholar
Kösoğlu, Nevzat (red.). 1997. Başlangıcından Günümüze Kadar Türkiye Dışındakı Türk Ede-biyatları Antolojisi. T. 13. Bulgaristan Türk Edebiyatı. Ankara. Google Scholar
Kösoğlu, Nevzat (red.). 1999. Başlangıcından Günümüze Kadar Türkiye Dışındakı Türk Edebiyatları Anto-lojisi. T. 13. Kırım Türk-Tatar Edebiyatı. Ankara. Google Scholar
Крымскотатарский онлайн словарь, http://medeniye.org/ru/lugat (dostęp: 2017-03-20). Google Scholar
Kúnos, Ignác. 1889. Oszmán-Török Népköltési Gyüjtemény, Masodık Kötet: Oszmán-Török Népmesék és Népdalok, Budapest. Google Scholar
Kunoş. İgnaç. 1998. Türk Halk Türküleri. İstanbul. Google Scholar
Muhtar, Reşit. 2013. Kilis Halk Kültüründe Türküler, Hikayeleri ve Oyunlar. İzmir. Google Scholar
Radlov, Vassiliy. 1896. Obrazcy narodnoj literatury severnych tjurkskich plemen / Proben der Volkslitteratur der nördlichen türkischen Stämme. T. VII: Narečiâ Krymskago poluostrova / Die Mundarten der Krim. St. Peterbsurg. Google Scholar
[Radlov, Vassiliy (ed.)] [1888] מגֿומא. יענה קרימדאגי קראימלר אראסינדא קוללאנילן מסלילר היכאייטלר זרפו מסלילר טפמאגֿאלר טפמאגֿאלר טכרלאמאלר וא טורכולרדיר [S. Petersburg. Google Scholar
Shapira, Dan. 2002. „Pesn o Mangupie” 1793 goda: Nieizvestnyj istočnik po istorii karaimov Krvma. „Vestnik Evrejskogo Universiteta. Istoriâ, Kul’tura. Civilizaciâ”, 7 (25): 283–294 Google Scholar
Sıçanın Methi. 1970. Hüseyin Sakallı; Yalvaç; Isparta, Yalvaç, Körküler Beldesi'ne aittir. Er-doğan Fındıkoğlu derlemiştir (05.03.1944). Folklor, Türk Folklor Kurumu, Ağustos-Eylül-Ekim 1970, Yıl: 2, Sayı: 16-17-18: 56-57; http://www.turkudostu.net/page/33/ (dostęp: 2017-04-20). Google Scholar
Smętek, Dorota. 2015. Analiza porównawcza krymskokaraimskich piosenek ludowych. „Alma-nach Karaimski” 4: 33–45. Google Scholar
Sulimowicz, Anna. 2016. A record of living Karaim folklore in 1960s Crimea. The copybooks of Yosif Kefeli, „Almanach Karaimski” 5: 159–174 Google Scholar
Turhan, Salih. Can, Taner. 2007. Ordu Türküleri, Ankara: 203. Google Scholar
Yaşar Kemal. Sarı Defterdekiler. 2007. Folklor derlemeleri. Alpay Kabacalı (opr.). İstanbul (pierwsze wydanie 1997). Google Scholar
Zajączkowski, Ananiasz. 1939. Tatarsko-karaimskie piosenki ludowe z Krymu (t. zw. čïŋ), „Rocznik Orientalistyczny” 14: 38–65. Google Scholar
Zajączkowski, Włodzimierz. 1959. Die krimkaraimischen Sprichwörter. „Folia Orientalia” 1: 57–61 Google Scholar
Zajączkowski, Włodzimierz. 1961. Z poezji ludowej tatarsko-karaimskiej na Krymie. „Rocznik Orientalistyczny” 24, 2: 119–147. Google Scholar
Authors
Anna Sulimowiczana.sulimowicz@gmail.com
Poland
Turkolożka, st. wykładowca w Zakładzie Turkologii i Ludów Azji Środkowej Wydziału Orientalistycznego Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, sekretarz Związku Karaimów Polskich. Jej zainteresowania badawcze koncentrują się przede wszystkim wokół dziejów Karaimów halickich i łuckich, ich kultury i języka. W latach 2012–2016 uczestniczyła w projekcie „Katalog rękopisów i starodruków karaimskich” realizowanym z grantu Narodowego Centrum Nauki (nr proj. 2011/03/D/HS2/00618). Tłumaczka literatury karaimskiej i tureckiej, m.in. powieści noblisty Orhana Pamuka. Adres do korespondencji: anna.sulimowicz@uw.edu.pl.
Statistics
Abstract views: 154PDF downloads: 60
License
Authors
Authors of texts accepted for publication in Karaim Almanac are required to complete, sign and return to the Editorial team’s office the Agreement for granting a royalty-free license to works with a commitment to grant a CC sub-license.
Under the agreement, the authors of the texts published in Karaim Almanac grant Polish Karaim Association a non-exclusive, royalty-free license and authorize the use of Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license.
The authors retain the right to the free disposal of the work.
Users
Interested Internet users are entitled to use works that have been published in Karaim Almanac since 2018, under the following conditions:
▪ attribution – obligation to provide, together with the distributed work, information about the authorship, title, source (link to the original work) and the license itself.
▪ no derivatives – the work must be preserved in its original form. Without the author's consent, it is not possible to distribute the modified work in the form of translations, publications, etc.
Copyrights are reserved for all texts published before 2018.
Miscellaneous
Polish Karaim Association retains the property right as a whole (layout, graphic form, title, cover design, logo etc.).
Privacy statement
The names and email addresses published on this journal site will be used exclusively for the purposes declared by this journal and cannot be used for any other purpose or by any other party.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Anna Sulimowicz, A record of the living Karaim folklore of Crimea. The copybooks of Yosif Kefeli , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 5 (2016)
- Anna Sulimowicz, The Social and educational activities of the Karaite Ladies’ Association in Halicz , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 4 (2015)
- Mariola Abkowicz, Anna Sulimowicz, New facts in the biography of the Karaim poet Simon Kobecki , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 5 (2016)
- Anna Sulimowicz, A nineteenth-century manuscript containing two documents referring to the Karaims of Troki , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 5 (2016)
- Anna Sulimowicz, Listy do Łucka , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 2 (2013)
- Rafael Abkowicz, Anna Sulimowicz, Co oznaczają nasze święta i inne specjalne dni , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 1 (2007)
- Anna Sulimowicz, An unknown translation of Rota into the Karaim language , Karaim Almanac: Vol. 4 (2015)
