The Vitality of Tradition: Appropriation of Aldar Köse (the trickster) in a
Kazakh Folktale to Represent 'The New Kazakh'
Aldar Köse (lit. `Beardless
Cheater') is a hero-trickster character present in the oral traditions and
literature of Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Turkmen, and Tajiks. He uses
his cunning wit and eloquence to defeat the greed and laziness of the rich,
powerful, and pompous. Readers not only delight in, but also vicariously share
in his victories.
Our guest will compare and contrast two versions of the
same Kazakh folktale: "Aldar Köse and the Devils". One recent version was
modified to depict the "New Kazakhs". Aldar Köse goes from representing, acting
in the stead of gentle Kazakhs, to presenting the Kazakhs as cunning like
himself.
Erik Aasland received his Ph.D. from Fuller Graduate School of
Intercultural Studies in Pasadena, CA. He has done invited talks at USC and UCSD
where he spoke in particular about proverbs ("How I got Hooked and What I have
Done About It" and "Kazakh-speaking Students' Refractions of `Community' by
Means of Kazakh Proverbs"). From 2006-2011 he carried out field research
concerning Kazakh proverbs, folktales and oral traditions, developing
relationships with such distinguished scholars as Academic Äbduäli Qaidar of the
Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences. He also taught at Suleyman Demirel University in
Almaty, Kazakhstan. He specializes in cognitive poetic and language ideological
analysis of Kazakh oral tradition. His personal webpage is: http://sdu-kz.academia.edu/ErikAasland.
The event will take place at SRH on Saturday, June 8, at 5-7pm.
Silk Road House, 1944 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
(between Milvia & Martin Luther King; enter by side door in passageway under
black Zabu Zabu awning); e-mail: silkroadhouse@yahoo.com; website: www.silkroadhouse.org; tel.:
510-981-0700.
