Mythopoetic origins of the images of the leaders in the Turkish literature of the Soviet era
Fatima Dursunova

The article analyzes the ritual images of the leaders in the Turkish literature of Soviet times. It is stated that the formation of the image of a Leader in the Turkish Soviet literature is closely linked with the folklore, philosophical and religious traditions of the Turkic people. In the 1920s , the creation of a literary portrait of Lenin was influenced by dastan traditions, as well as traditions of epic and classical works of Oriental literature.

These traditions are characterized by being based preferably on mythological rather than real plots. Predicting the future and undertaking the role of the Defender and the Leader, as well as humanism and heroism are the main characteristics of national leaders in folklore who were eventually transformed into the images of the Soviet leaders. Poets and improvisators (ashigs, akyns, bakhshi, etc) were played an important role in popularizing the images of these leaders. The images of ideal rulers in the works of the great Turkic poets Nizami Ganjavi and Yusuf Balasaguni, particularly in such works as "Iskender-name" and "Kutadgu Bilik", also influenced the formation of the images of Soviet leaders. Subsequently, the image of Lenin created by Russian Soviet writers acquired new features – he was recognized as a brilliant theorist of the revolution who sincerely believed in justice and equality in the world. During the period of Stalin’s cult of personality the ‘Stalin-Lenin’ spiritual and political tandem arose in Turkish literature, as well as in Russian Soviet literature which was disintegrated with debunking the cult of personality afterward. In the 1960s, new literary works about Lenin, the Great Leader of the Revolution, were created and the Ilych’s percepts became topical again in the context of major achievements of the Soviet rule.

Keywords: turkic literature, the image of the leader, Lenin, Stalin, literary archetype