Satirical Tale Typology in Dagestan and the North Caucasus, by A. M. Abdurakhmanov

Abkhazian Studies 

Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia

D. I. Gulia Abkhaz Institute of Language, Literature and History

Issue 3, 2009, Folklore, pp.166-177

Translated by AbkhazWorld

Typological Commonalities in the Formation and Development of the Satirical Tale in the Folklore and Literatures of Dagestan and the North Caucasus

Folklore and the literatures of the peoples of Dagestan and the North Caucasus reflect an unbroken continuity of centuries and a single line of artistic development within the oral and written spiritual culture of the region. In the present study, this continuity reveals the general and specific features of modes of thought found in the satirical and humorous traditions of many Caucasian peoples. We shall attempt to illuminate select aspects of the formation of the satirical tale within the multi-ethnic literary system of the North Caucasus, tracing its shared and distinctive characteristics.

The North Caucasian region, on whose historical stage various tribes and peoples with diverse social and cultural features have interacted, developed its own perspectives on satire and humour. These perspectives left a distinctive imprint on the formation of satirical prose genres and therefore warrant consideration when addressing problems of folklore–literature interaction.

As is well known, folklore with its rich array of genres played a crucial role in the formation of the satirical tale in the literatures of this region. The abundant oral satirical prose still actively used by writers today has not yet received adequate scholarly analysis. The part played by folk satire in the emergence of literary genres likewise remains insufficiently studied: the channels of transmission, the nature of its manifestations in individual authors’ works, and the specific aspects of shaping satirical imagery in the modern tale all require thorough investigation.

The forms and modes of interaction between folk narrative and literary tale are complex, varied, and at times elusive, resisting straightforward analysis. In this region, where the peoples are linked by deep cultural and geographic proximity, this process has long been especially intensive: folklore served as the foundational soil for the development of many literary genres. In the modern period, an additional, still understudied feature has emerged: folklore itself is being enriched through literary influence. Therefore, the study of these processes cannot be limited to drawing parallels or noting convergences; rather, it becomes a multifaceted problem concerning the typological interplay of folkloric and literary principles.

Observations on the creation of the satirical–humorous tale in the North Caucasus reveal a general pattern: in purely literary tales the author is relatively free in selecting plot, composition, imagery, and artistic devices, whereas in satirical–humorous tales this creative freedom is more restricted and depends upon the variable comic situations reflected in oral tradition, situations that arise in all spheres of everyday human life.

The satirical–humorous stratum of both traditional and contemporary folklore, characterised by national and supra-regional artistic qualities and types, constitutes a living, continually renewed link within the broader tradition by which oral creativity enters literature. Folk satire developed in accordance with the socio-political and socio-economic changes taking place in society, ultimately forming the foundation of the satirical direction in emerging written literatures.

Thus, the development of satirical genres, including the satirical–humorous tale in the North Caucasus, proceeded through the continual interaction between folkloric foundations and written artistic literature. The connection between Dagestani and North Caucasian satirical tales and oral folk narratives does not lie in the mechanical borrowing of episodes or narrative–imagistic structures; rather, it is realised through the syncretic unity of folkloric elements with the aesthetic–artistic criteria of literary satire. Components of satire in oral narrative, subordinated to the content, form, and purpose of the written work, serve as artistic devices for creating comic situations and satirical–humorous characters.

Many examples in artistic literature confirm these observations. For instance, in R. Gamzatov’s lyrical prose work My Dagestan, significant socio-political and social problems are presented through light humour and irony. The sketches titled “Abutalib Said” constitute an organic blend of folk humorous tales with individual artistic creativity, literary interpretation of folk comic thinking, reworked by the author in a satirical–humorous key. Gamzatov’s recourse to the figure of Abutalib, whose character reflects features of folk mentality, is hardly accidental and directly accords with the poet’s own literary credo: “For me, the primary element of poetry is oral folk creativity” [Gamzatov 1969: 5]. While the genre nature, origins, and mode of circulation of Abutalib’s tales, as well as the artist’s work in adapting them, merit separate study, one point is clear: these satirical–humorous sketches are rooted in deep layers of oral creativity, and not of a single people alone.

Equally folk-like in their wit are the satirical miniatures of A. Gafurov, preserved in the recordings of R. Gamzatov. These tales, which expose contemporary social shortcomings, rest unmistakably upon folkloric foundations. Although they may appear at first to be harmless jokes, they contain profound philosophical subtexts, sometimes raising large-scale social, cultural, and moral issues relevant to society as a whole and laying bare the socio-ethical roots of universal human vices. One such miniature is distinctly satirical in tone:

“A man holding an important position grew fat. When the post became vacant, people discussed who might replace him. Abutalib said: ‘We must find the thinnest man!’”
[Gafurov 1977: 154]

The insight lies in creating an image that appears unrelated on the surface, yet evokes an unmistakable association for listeners, thereby giving the episode broad social meaning.

A careful analysis shows that such tales do not emerge in a vacuum; their themes and ideas are prompted by the people themselves and by folklore, which organically enters literary creativity. For example, the following oral tale may lie behind Gafurov’s miniature:

“At a collective farm meeting, the chairman was criticised for caring more about his own well-being than about the farm’s affairs. The vote to dismiss him was nearly complete when one farmer stood and said: ‘Comrades! Instead of fattening up a new chairman, isn’t it better to re-elect the old one, he’s already fat enough?’”
[Folklore–Literature Interrelations 1986: 56]

One characteristic of Dagestani and North Caucasian oral satirical–humorous tales is that they condemn a general phenomenon rather than an individual. This demonstrates literature’s keen interest in folkloric traditions, which impart fresh impulses to the aesthetic evaluation of specific features of national life.

In the characters of satirical tales, the author’s attitude toward the phenomena under scrutiny is clearly visible. The author’s presence is almost always implicit, revealed through lyrical digressions, brief evaluative remarks, or explanations of background and motives, behind which the author’s stance is discernible. We observe such explicit authorial evaluations, which introduce structural and compositional shifts, in the works of Kh. Avshalumov (“A Meeting at the Spring”), Kh. Katsiev (“The Black Jinn”, “Distant Relatives”), S. Panesh (“Housewarming”, “A Man of Principle”), and others.

In the genesis of the satirical tale in several North Caucasian literatures, the folk khapar / khaber / habar occupies a foundational place. A khapar is a narrative based on a real event, embellished with some fiction. These stories often reflect social and moral contradictions. For example, at a mountain wedding in Kabardino-Balkaria, a conflict between two guests immediately gave rise to an oral satirical tale. The well-known narrative about the singer Ismail, poor but widely admired—illustrates this dynamic. When a wealthy guest attempted to insult him, Ismail silenced him with a sharp, witty retort, asserting the spiritual power of song over material force [Kuliyev 1959: 6–7]. This oral exchange, coloured by social tension, was later used by K. Kuliyev. Its emotional impact ensured its preservation in folk memory.

Various peoples of the region preserve versions of the ancient wandering motif of “the single sheep”, known to Slavic scholarship from A. Potebnia. In Dagestani and North Caucasian folklore and literature, this motif appears as a parable or humorous tale. In Potebnia’s version, a wealthy man slaughters the only sheep of a poor farmer for a traveller’s meal [Potebnia 1976: 467]. In the Avar version, a wealthy owner compels a poor man to pasture his sole sheep together with the rich man’s flock; when the sheep is lost, the poor man responds with a witty remark about how difficult it must have been for a wolf to find his single sheep among two thousand [Khalidova 1974: 21]. The Chechen version similarly reinterprets the motif with local humour and irony [Folklore–Literature Interrelations 1986: 62].

Such oral tales provide a unique reservoir of plots for literary satire. Each version alters the plot slightly while retaining the core motif of the single sheep and its social implications. Potebnia foregrounds social critique and suppresses humour; in Dagestani and Chechen versions, social critique is masked by mountain humour and figurative language.

As a result of diverse folkloric and literary reinterpretations, these plots gradually lost their original folkloric form. Under literary influence, numerous variants arose in both folklore and literature. As independent works, they became more vivid and nationally specific in tone.

At the early stages of the formation of the literary satirical tale, writers freely borrowed entire narrative situations and characters from folklore, what U. Dalgat termed “genetic identification of literature with folklore” [Dalgat 1981: 32]. Writers drew not only from local folklore but also from the classical heritage of the East and Europe. These traditions, enriched by psychological motivation and modern social tendencies, acquired distinctive features within each national literature. In Adyghe literature, for example, this is characteristic of the works of S. Panesh. In the tale “The Miser” [Panesh 1981: 174], the author integrates an oral legend about brothers dividing their father’s property, adapting it fully to the artistic aims of the literary narrative.

Folk tales, stories, anecdotes, and fables containing allegorical or humorous subtexts contributed substantially to the development of diverse forms of the literary satirical tale. Such narratives often exhibit brevity, unexpected twists, and the capacity to provoke laughter or sharp mockery.

Several examples from oral prose demonstrate these tendencies:

The Parable of the Swallow
A swallow brings drops of water to help extinguish a burning house because her nest lies inside and the master listened to her songs each morning.1

The Tale of Two Boys Who Stole a Rooster
A child blurts out a confession before being accused, revealing guilt through his own fear.2

The Lame Man of Teletl
This comic tale arises from dialectal differences between Avar and Andean speakers [Reader 1899: 7].

A tale recorded by P. K. Uslar portrays the mountain lifestyle vividly: a villager, tired of repeatedly recounting how his donkey fell to its death, gathers the entire community to show them the spot, demanding that they witness it once and for all.1

Tales about religious figures, especially mullahs, are one of the most widespread forms of narrative satire in the folklore of the region, though they are insufficiently utilised in literature. Yet these tales share a typological unity in their genesis.

Chechen, Ingush, Circassian, and Georgian variants of the widespread tale “Give” and “Take” (“Yes” and “No”) demonstrate this unity. In each, a mullah’s greed or obstinacy leads to comic consequences: a mullah stuck in a swamp refuses help because he interprets the word “give” only in terms of losing something, but gladly accepts help when the rescuer says “take” instead [Karaeva 1961: 18]. A Georgian variant features an obstinate wife who refuses to say “yes” even to save herself, leading to comic misadventures.1

These tales, identical in idea and method, highlight a particular negative trait, such as greed taken to the point of absurdity. They range from light irony to biting sarcasm. In the Chechen–Ingush tale “The Devil with the Zurna”, the mullahs’ greed is universalised: the devil, who claims he plays the zurna whenever a mullah gives alms, has never played in nine hundred years [Malsagov & Oshaev 1963: 19].

The oral satirical tale constitutes one expression of communal consciousness. Its development necessarily leads toward individual artistic creativity, for, as S. Azbelev noted, oral tales encompass a vast domain of spoken practice [Azbelev 1964: 133]. The potential for incorporating oral satirical tales into literature is virtually inexhaustible.

Modern writers, Kh. Avshalumov, I. Ibragimov (Dagestan); E. Gurtuev, Kh. Katsiev (Kabardino-Balkaria); A. Kotsoyev (North Ossetia); S. Batsiev (Chechen–Ingush Republic); I. Khubiev, I. Karakotov (Karachaevo-Cherkessia); S. Panesh (Adygea); D. Gulia (Abkhazia), have created ideologically pointed, socially and morally meaningful works grounded in folklore’s satirical traditions.

Contemporary folklore continues to influence the development of satire. Collections such as those of P. Pashaev (The Tales of Akul-Ali, 1964), I. Vagabov (The Wonders of Kusa, 1965), Kh. Katsiev (Omar the Joker, 1969), I. Khubiev (Alan’s Tales, 1977), A. Abu-Bakar (Mountaineers at Leisure, 1979), E. Gurtuev (Just Like in Life, 1980), S. Panesh (A Bouquet of Thorns, 1981), and M. Butaev (Kurklí Laughs, 1981) attest to this ongoing process.

Even the most recent events inspire new tales. After the military actions in the Botlikh district, humorous stories quickly emerged, exposing human weaknesses, such as the tale “The Cow”, in which misplaced piety brings rain to Dagestan and Ossetia but not to Chechnya, prompting a witty explanation based on the “origin” of the cow slaughtered for alms.1

Thus, the satirical tale in the literatures of Dagestan and the North Caucasus is genetically rooted in oral prose and maintains a living connection with both traditional and contemporary folk narrative. This connection, though sometimes unconscious, can always be traced in a writer’s work, not only in vocabulary and style but above all in ideological, thematic, and genre-typological dimensions [Shubin 1974: 172].

The modern North Caucasian satirical–humorous tale developed under typologically similar conditions and from rich folkloric material, which continues to shape its thematic and aesthetic qualities. Arising through interaction and mutual enrichment, it synthesises national folkloric tradition with the artistic practice of individual creativity and bears the distinctive features of a shared regional aesthetic culture. Its formation was strongly influenced by the level of development of folk satire in Dagestan and the North Caucasus, where the ethno-linguistic map displays a striking mosaic of zones characterised by distinct historical, genetic, socio-economic, and cultural commonalities [Gamzatov 1986: 14].

References

(Original format preserved; English translations of titles supplied in square brackets.)

Azbelev 1964: Azbelev, S. Sovremennye ustnye rasskazy. Problemy sovremennogo narodnogo tvorchestva [Modern Oral Tales: Problems of Contemporary Folk Creativity]. In: Russkii fol'klor, vol. 9. Moscow–Leningrad, 1964.

Vzaimosviazi fol’klora i literatury narodov Dagestana [Interrelations of the Folklore and Literatures of the Peoples of Dagestan]. Makhachkala, 1986.

Gamzatov 1969: Gamzatov, R. Sobranie sochinenii v 3-kh tomakh, vol. 3. Moscow, 1969.

Gamzatov 1986: Gamzatov, G. G. Preodolenie. Stanovlenie. Obnovlenie. Na putiakh formirovaniia dagestanskoi sovetskoi literatury [Overcoming, Formation, Renewal: On the Paths of the Development of Dagestani Soviet Literature]. Makhachkala, 1986.

Gafurov 1977: Gafurov, A. Abutalib skazal… [“Abutalib Said…”]. Moscow, 1977.

Dalgat 1981: Dalgat, U. B. Literatura i fol'klor. Teoreticheskie aspekty [Literature and Folklore: Theoretical Aspects]. Moscow, 1981.

Karaeva 1961: Karaeva, A. M. O fol’klornom nasledii karachaevobalkarskogo naroda [On the Folkloric Heritage of the Karachay-Balkar People]. Cherkessk, 1961.

Knižka dlia chteniia [Reader]. Kazan’, 1899. In Avar and Russian.

Kuliyev 1959: Kuliyev, K. Vremia i pesni. Balkarskaia narodnaia lirika [Time and Songs: Balkar Folk Lyrics]. Nal’chik, 1959.

Malsagov 1963: Malsagov, D. D.; Oshaev, Kh. D. Ustnoe poeticheskoe tvorchestvo checheno-ingushskogo naroda. Ocherk istorii checheno-ingushskoi literatury [Oral Poetic Creativity of the Chechen–Ingush People: An Outline of the History of Chechen–Ingush Literature]. Groznyi, 1963.

Panesh 1981: Panesh, S. Bukет koliuchek [A Bouquet of Thorns]. Moscow, 1981.

Potebnia 1976: Potebnia, A. A. Estetika i poetika [Aesthetics and Poetics]. Moscow, 1976.

Khalidova 1974: Khalidova, M. R. Malye didakticheskie zhanry avarskogo fol’klora [Short Didactic Genres of Avar Folklore]. Makhachkala, 1974.

Uslar 1888: Uslar, P. K. Etnografiia Kavkaza. Iazykoznanie. T. 2: Chechenskii iazyk [Ethnography of the Caucasus. Linguistics. Vol. 2: The Chechen Language]. Tiflis, 1888.

Shubin 1974: Shubin, E. A. Sovremennyi russkii rasskaz [The Modern Russian Tale]. Leningrad, 1974.