The legend of mankurt is a hymn to maternal love essay. Mankurt - who is this? "Legend of Mankurt"

The term "mankurt" was coined by Chingiz Aitmatov in his famous novel "And the day lasts longer than a century". In this work of art, a mankurt is a man who was captured, with the help of brutal torture, turned into a slavish soulless creature, who forgot everything about his past life and carried out any orders of his master. The word has become widely used in a figurative sense, it has become. The contemptuous nickname "mankurt" goes to those who forget and disdain the culture of their people.

Etymology of the word

There are several versions of the origin of the word. Presumably, Chingiz Aitmatov, inventing the term "mankurt", took as a basis the ancient Turkic adjective mungul, meaning "stupid, unreasonable, devoid of reason." In the Kyrgyz modern language, the word munju is used to denote a mutilated person. Taking into account the mutual influence of the Kyrgyz, it can be assumed that the noun "mankurt" comes from "manguu" - a form of the word that has the meanings: "stupid, stupid, feeble-minded" and "idiot". It is possible that the lexeme "mankurt" was formed by merging the ancient Türkic roots gurut - "dried" and man - "belt, put on a belt".

Zhuanzhuan tribe

In the fourth or fifth century AD, there was a process of resettlement. During the period of unrest in the steppes of Turkestan, Western Manchuria and Mongolia, an alliance of nomadic tribes arose, which included fugitive slaves, impoverished peasants, and deserters. United by a common unenviable fate, people were forced to drag out a miserable beggarly existence, so they strayed into gangs that hunted for robbery. Gradually, a bunch of bandits turned into a people that went down in history under the name of Zhuanzhuan. This tribe was distinguished by primitive laws, lack of writing and culture, constant combat readiness and fierce ruthlessness. The Zhuanzhuan controlled the lands to the north of China and became a real curse for nomadic Asia and neighboring states. Mankurt is a man enslaved by this terrible people.

Description of torture

It is no coincidence that the legend described by Aitmatov tells about the Zhuanzhuang. Only this rootless, merciless, barbaric people was capable of inventing such a sophisticated, inhuman torture. This tribe treated the prisoners especially cruelly. In order to turn a person into an ideal slave, not thinking about rebellion and flight, they took away his memory by putting bread on him. Young and strong warriors were chosen for the procedure. At first, the unfortunate people shaved their heads cleanly, literally scraping out every hair. Then the camel was slaughtered and the densest, most prominent part of the skin was separated. Divided into parts, it was slammed onto the heads of the prisoners. The skin, like a plaster, stuck to the freshly shaved skull of people. This meant putting on wide. Then the future slaves were put on stocks around their necks so that they could not touch the ground with their heads, they tied their hands and feet, took them out to the bare steppe and left them there for several days. Under the scorching sun, without water and food, with a gradually drying skin, a steel hoop squeezing their heads, the captives most often died from unbearable torment. A day later, the hard, straight hair of the slaves began to sprout, sometimes they penetrated the rawhide, but more often they bent and stuck into the scalp, causing burning pain. At this point, the prisoners finally lost their minds. Only on the fifth day did the Zhuanzhuan come for the unfortunate. If at least one of the captives remained alive, it was considered good luck. The enslaved was released from the fetters, given a drink, gradually restored strength and physical health.

The value of a mankurt slave

People who do not remember their past were valued very dearly. They had a number of advantages from an economic point of view. Mankurt is a creature that is not burdened with the consciousness of its own "I", attached to the owner, like a dog. His only need is food. He is indifferent to other people and never thinks of running away. Only mankurts, who do not remember kinship, could withstand the endless desertion of the sarozeks, were not burdened by savagery, did not need rest and help. And they could for a long time, steadily, monotonously perform the most dirty, tedious, painful work. Usually they were assigned to the camel herd, which they vigilantly guarded day and night, winter and summer, without complaining about hardships. The command of the owner was for them above all. Mankurt was equivalent to ten healthy slaves. It is known that for the accidental murder of such a slave in internecine wars, in order to compensate for the damage, the guilty party paid a ransom three times greater than for the destruction of a free fellow tribesman.

The legend of the mankurt

In the novel "And the day lasts longer than a century" one chapter is devoted to an ancient legend. Aitmatov tells about the unfortunate fate of a woman named Naiman-Ana in his legend. Mankurt, about whom the heroine of the story accidentally heard, turned out to be her missing son in battle. Usually, even if the relatives of the mutilated captive learned about his terrible fate, they never sought to save him. A person who does not remember kinship retained only the outer shell. Naiman-Ana judged otherwise. She decided to bring her son home at all costs. Finding him among the endless sarozeks, the woman tried to restore the young man's memory. However, neither the warmth of her mother's hands, nor her insistent speeches, nor the lullabies familiar from childhood, nor the food cooked under her own roof helped the captive to remember his past. And when the insidious Zhuanzhuan inspired the mankurt that Naiman-Ana wanted to deceive him, take off his hat and steam off his exhausted head, the slave, with an unwavering hand, shot an arrow into his mother's heart. A white handkerchief fell from the hair of a dying woman, turned into a Donenbay bird, which continued to scream, reminding the mankurt of his father and his forgotten native land.

folklore source

The author of the legend, as already mentioned, is the famous writer Chingiz Aitmatov. The legend of the mankurt, in turn, comes from a real folklore source. The writer in one of the interviews says that in the epic "Manas", one of the greatest tales of the Kyrgyz people, there is a mention of the threat of one of the warriors to another in case of victory to put a width on his head in order to take away his memory. The author did not find any other information about this most cruel violence against the human mind either in folklore or in literature. The researcher K. Asanaliev, studying the epic "Manas", found in it lines in which the enemies are trying to put width on the young Manas.

Historical accuracy

Shiri is cattle, from which nomadic peoples made dishes in ancient times. The Kirghiz also had a funeral custom associated with the use of breadth. If, due to unfavorable circumstances, it was necessary to postpone the funeral of the deceased in another area, his body, in compliance with all the prescribed rites, was wrapped in breadth and hung on a tall tree. In the spring, the deceased was taken to the family cemetery and buried there. There is a known mention of the lexeme "shiri" in the meaning of "a cap made of rawhide, put on the head of the punished". This type of torture was widely used among nomadic peoples. The drying skin of the animal shrank, causing unbearable pain to the person. Mankurt is a man who lost his memory under the influence of such torture, according to Aitmatov. If we assume that the term "shiri" is of Mongolian origin, then its meaning is "skin, skin, raw meat." In the Kyrgyz language, along with the lexeme "width", derivatives are used: "shiresh" - "to grow together, stick together" and "shirile" - "to put wideness on the head".

Meaning of the legend

The legend of the mankurt is closely connected with the main theme of the narration of the novel "And the day lasts longer than a century." It describes modern mankurts. Chingiz Aitmatov sought to convey to his readers the idea that a person deprived of historical memory becomes a puppet, a slave to the concepts and ideas imposed on him. He does not remember the instructions of his father and mother, forgets his real name, loses touch with the national culture of his tribe and loses his identity. Of particular importance in the legend is the fact that the unfortunate mankurt, who had lost information about his human nature, retained the memory of how to shoot from a bow, which means to kill. And when the enslavers turned the young man against his mother, he destroyed her with his own hands. - the basis of the human soul, inoculation against immorality and immorality. Naiman-Ana is a symbol of this memory, tirelessly reminding people of the lessons of the past.

Use of the word

According to the journal Science and Life, mankurt is an example of a lexeme introduced into the Russian language recently. At present, the meaning of this word has narrowed down to the concept of a person who does not remember kinship, who has forgotten about his ancestors. Information that this loss occurred as a result of external influence on the psyche and turns the subject into a slave of his master, in the meaning of the noun "mankurt" is gradually lost.

The term has gained great popularity in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan. In these countries, the word "mankurt" has a negative meaning, it is used to refer to people who forget the national language and culture.

From other authors

The publicist Vertiporoh Lilia calls a mankurt a man "whose heart and brains were removed by the empire, leaving only the stomach." Konstantin Krylov describes the use of the term "mankurt" in the eighties of the last century as an unfair and contemptuous characterization of a person who is not very interested in "the day before yesterday's news" about and other events in Russian history, but who thinks more about the present and future of his country. Publicist and journalist Solovyov Vladimir calls citizens who speak disparagingly about their homeland mankurts. He considers people for whom respect for the memory of their ancestors - empty words, a genetic mutation.

The writing. "And the day lasts longer than a century" Aitmatov - Review (composition)"

We are what we remember and expect.
Ch. Aitmatov

On the threshold of the third millennium, humanity is again and again looking for answers to eternal questions about the meaning of life, about society and man, their responsibility for today. It is for today, because tomorrow may not be. The existence and destructive effect of nuclear weapons, the exploration of outer space for military purposes, the ecology that leaves much to be desired - everything reminds and warns of a possible catastrophe for the entire civilization. No one will defeat anyone, no one will survive alone. We must all save and save together. Society is people, and people are different. What is a society capable of if, instead of the cult of religion, a cult of violence is established in it, profit at any cost? Dispassionate, indifferent, kinship not remembering mankurts - can such people be able to ensure progress and are needed by society? What will keep people and make them ashamed of immoral acts? Ashamed, ashamed - after all, they don’t pay for it, they don’t punish. My comfortable world, my interests and the interests of society - how to combine them harmoniously? Life mercilessly poses these questions, and all people pass this exam, as do the characters in Chingiz Aitmatov's novel "And the day lasts longer than a century."
Chingiz Torekulovich Aitmatov entered the history of Russian literature with "Tales of the Mountains and Steppes", which breathed youth, freshness, love for his native land, for people living in the Tien Shan mountains surrounding the great lake Issyk-Kul. Bypassing several of the same bright and joyful stories, Aitmatov began to think about the deep problems of all mankind, and disturbing notes sounded in his work. For the first time, the reader experienced a sensation of pain shock from the story "After the Rain" ("The White Steamboat"). And over the following years, the writer formulates more and more social, psychological, universal problems that concern modernity. And here comes the first novel by Aitmatov, which absorbed many years of work, experiences and reflections of the writer. This was the "Stormy Station", which is better known as "And the day lasts longer than a century."
Despite such a huge philosophical role, the novel does not immediately captivate. A philosophical epigraph from the "Book of Sorrow" of the 10th century, an unusual beginning: "It required great patience in search of prey along dry gullies and bald logs", an elderly Kazakh is lucky to bury his friend in the family cemetery - a completely different life, alien to my interests, opens on the first pages of the novel . But full of hidden power, the exact prose of Aitmatov captures, and gradually you begin to discover the deep meaning of what is happening, the secret interconnection of events, to comprehend in the word the inner work of the writer’s soul, which he speaks about in the epigraph.
The plot of the novel is simple: a mouse hungry fox goes to the railway line, an elderly woman hurries to report that "the lonely old man Kazangap has died", the lineman Yedigei decides to bury his friend on an ancient family
cemetery. And the sad procession, led by Edigei on Karanar, moves measuredly deep into the steppes to the cemetery of Ana-Beyit. But there is already stunning news waiting for them: the holy of holies of the Kazakhs "is subject to liquidation", on the site of the cemetery there will be a launch pad for launching missiles under the Hoop program. Someone's inexorable will in the person of Lieutenant Tansykbaev excommunicates people from their shrine. "Humiliated and upset" Yedigey, having overcome the resistance of Kazangap's son Sabidjan, buries a friend nearby, on the Malakumdychap precipice. And at the end of this story, as well as at its beginning, a symbol of Nature appears: a kite, soaring high, observes the ancient burial business and the pre-launch bustle at the spaceport.
And in parallel, there is a story about a completely different world, the center of which is located south of the Aleutian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, in a square approximately equidistant from Vladivostok and San Francisco. This is the aircraft carrier "Convention" - the scientific and strategic headquarters of the Obtsenupra under the joint program "Demiurge". Here, the American and Soviet parity - the cosmonauts, having contacted an extraterrestrial civilization, left the Paritet station "temporarily, in order to report to mankind on the results of visiting the planet Lesnaya Chest upon their return." Explaining the reasons for their "unprecedented enterprise", they write: "We are driven there by the thirst for knowledge and the age-old dream of man to discover similar beings in other worlds, so that the mind unites with the mind."
When comparing such plot lines, it turns out that the author, comprehending the perfect world, peers into it from the cosmic abyss: will people be able to change their ideas about the world order in order to enter a new habitable space? On the other hand, modernity will follow from the depths of primordial Nature, from the standpoint of a patriarchal worldview: will people preserve the traditions and spiritual values ​​of their ancestors, will they preserve the earth in all its uniqueness? The introduction of a cosmic, even sci-fi, storyline complicated the composition of the novel. There are, as it were, several spaces in it: Buranny station, Sary-Ozekov, countries, planets and outer space. Different layers of time are also conjugated in the novel: past, present and future. And in the center of their intersection - a man involved in both the fox and the rocket, called to understand everything, connect, harmonize. This is the protagonist of the novel Edigei Zhangeldin, Buranny Edigei, who lived for forty years without a break at a stop, a front-line soldier, a real hard worker, hard worker. As Aitmatov himself wrote, "he is one of those on whom, as they say, the earth rests ... He is the son of his time." And next to him in the center of the novel is a camel - syrttan (superbeing), descending from the white-headed camel Akmal, as the embodiment of Nature itself, its equality with man. Between them, a man and a camel, lies a layer of myths: the legend of the Ana-Beyit cemetery, the legend of the tragedy of the mankurt, about how Naiman-Ana tried to resurrect the memory of her son-mankurt with love, and how the Donen-bai bird now flies over the steppe with an appeal to people: "Remember your name! Your father Donenbai! .." This is also accompanied by a legend written in rhythmic prose about the love of the old singer Raimala-aga. "Steppe Goethe", to the young akynsha Begimai. The legendary events of the past live in Edigey's memories, intertwined with the present day: the legend of the mankurt with the fate of Sabidjan, the legend of the golden mekre with the life of Abutalip's children, and the legend of Raymalyag's love with the experiences of Edigey himself. These myths bring new indescribable sensations to the composition of the novel, make it look like a fairy tale, from which it is simply impossible to tear oneself away, one wants to plunge headlong into this wonderful world of unique prose.
The present day in the novel has absorbed the deep weight of lamati, since "the human mind is a clot of eternity, which has absorbed millennia of history and evolution, our past, present and the design of the future ... We are what we remember and wait for." Therefore, the name of the novel sounds special - a line from B. Pasternak's poem "The Only Days". This poem is the antipode of the novel in light sadness, sincerity of feeling, a slightly absent-minded look at the past, dissolved in the future. The novel is tragic, exposing all the conflicts of our time, requiring immediate unambiguous decisions from everyone. Such a title contains not only an important idea for the writer, but also a poetic, musical image, a lyrical motif that "shines" through the fabric of the entire novel. And the day of Kazangap's funeral lasts longer than a century, the day of Edigei's intense reflections on the complex issues of time and history. And here is an artistic miracle: in his memoirs and reflections, the ideal behavior and life of a person is revealed to us. We read not about the past and not about how people live, but about how to live. To live in harmony with nature and with oneself, personally and happily, on pure principles. Memory and Conscience became the basis of the life of the heroes of the novel at the Buranny station. These people do not tear pieces from life and do not look for where it is better. In the harsh nature of the Sary-Ozeks, they caught the living soul of Nature itself and know how to rejoice in the little - the poetry of a downpour, for example. "Abutalip and the children bathed in the streams of downpour, danced, made noise ... It was a holiday for them, an outlet from the sky." The life of the families of Edigei, Kazangap and Abutalip Kuttybaev proceeds with their passions, hopes and difficulties. And in difficulties, the character is tempered, the soul and mind are cleansed. And the values ​​in their world are true: family love, honest work, gentle life. Perhaps the ideal relationship between families on Buranny is the embodiment of the writer's dream, a prototype of relations between peoples and states. However, Edigei and Ukubala, Abutalip and Zaripa are far from naive people. In their craving for a free life, they opposed the laws of the clan, experienced persecution in a certain period of history. Therefore, they value each other and children so reverently and tenderly. Family love is the main value. Yes, and life at the half-station is similar to a fraternal hostel. It is based on compassion and spirituality. And Edigey in this world is the main person, support and support for everyone. Without it, Boranly is unthinkable - Buranny, open to all winds in the world, placed by the author in the Sary-Ozek steppes - great and deserted spaces. Sary-Ozeki is not just a steppe, it is infinity itself with its cold indifference to man, to his search for the meaning of life, happiness, justice: "Edigey suddenly felt completely devastated. He fell to his knees in the snow ... and sobbed muffled and hoarsely. in complete solitude, in the middle of the Sary-Ozeki, he heard the wind moving in the steppe..." Along with the lostness of man in the spaces of the steppes, the author simultaneously emphasizes the lostness of the Earth in starry infinity: "And the Earth swam on its circles, washed by the higher winds. It swam around the Sun and, revolving around its axis, carried on itself at that hour a man kneeling in the snow, in the middle of a snowy desert... And the Earth swam..." And Edigei managed to become equal to infinity in his truly human essence, because at the core his personality lies in the knowledge of the laws of nature and subtle intuition in dealing with people, a sense of responsibility for everything around. The author argues that only a person who has absorbed the experience of his ancestors and is included in the world culture is capable of "leap in consciousness", "revolution of the spirit" by consulting his conscience. So, not finding a cemetery in its first place, Edigei dares to found a new one, and parity-cosmo-! the nauts, at their own peril and risk, decide to go towards new experience and knowledge. All of them: cosmonauts and Edigey, Raymalyaga and Abutalip, the mother of the mankurt Naiman-Ana - have creative imagination and good will to pave a new path in behavior, in thought, in work.
However, the author, finishing the novel, which is sometimes called a warning novel, paints a terrible picture of the apocalypse: "The sky collapsed on its head, opening up in clubs of boiling flame and breathing ... each new explosion covered them with a fire of all-encompassing light and a crushing roar around .. ." It is on the Earth, which seems from space "fragile, like a baby's head," they pull the hoop of rocket-robots with a "cold hand". The connection of times has been closed: new barbarians raise the forces of evil of the distant past over the world. These people without memory, deprived themselves of the experience of their people, and, consequently, of the historical perspective, deprive humanity of the future. Since the seventies, the writer's artistic and philosophical searches have been aimed at developing a new, planetary thinking associated with the establishment of a world without war, a new, planetary humanism.
Whether it will be so, the novel does not give a definite answer. Humanism can win only if people do not lose their historical memory, do not become like mankurts.
The deformation of conscience allows people to remain indifferent even when moral principles are violated. Is it possible that the generation of conformists is replacing the generation of Edigei and Kazangap? Is a well-ordered, well-fed life incapable of forming a person ready to protest because of the humiliation of dignity? What is this - a payment for scientific and technological progress? Isn't the price too high? Is this progress? Tough, tough questions. Not fear, but conscience should force people to ascribe responsibility for what is happening around.
Everyone is responsible for the time in which he lives. This is one of the main points of the novel. And I would like to believe that the good will of politicians and peoples will make it possible to avoid the doomsday that befell Yedigei, about which Ch. Aitmatov's novel "And the day lasts longer than a century" tells.

From the book of Chingiz Aitmatov "And the day lasts longer than a century"

Yedigey insisted that the deceased be buried in the distant family cemetery of Ana-Beyit. The cemetery has its own history. The legend said that the Zhuanzhuans, who captured Sary-Ozeki in past centuries, destroyed the memory of the captives by terrible torture: by putting on a head a wide - a piece of rawhide camel skin. Drying under the sun, the shiri squeezed the slave's head like a steel hoop, and the unfortunate one lost his mind, became a mankurt. Mankurt did not know who he was, where he came from, did not remember his father and mother - in a word, he did not realize himself as a man. He did not think about running away, did the most dirty, hard work and, like a dog, recognized only the owner.

One woman named Naiman-Ana found her son turned into a mankurt. He tended the owner's livestock. I didn’t recognize her, I didn’t remember my name, the name of my father ... “Remember your name,” mother pleaded. - Your name is Zholaman.

While they were talking, the Zhuanzhuang noticed the woman. She managed to escape, but they told the shepherd that this woman had come to steam his head (at these words, the slave turned pale - there is no worse threat for a mankurt). The guy was left with a bow and arrows.

Naiman-Ana returned to her son with the idea of ​​persuading him to flee. Looking around, looking for...

The impact of the arrow was fatal. But when the mother began to fall from the camel, her white handkerchief first fell, turned into a bird and flew away with a cry: “Remember, whose are you? Your father Donenbay! The place where Naiman-Ana was buried became known as the Ana-Beyit cemetery - Mother's Rest...

DO NOT LET YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN TURN INTO A EVIL MANKURT.

Rasulova Irina

Mankurt breeds

Mankurt breeds like cockroaches.
Through ditches, borders climb, infecting countries.
Voluntarily getting rid of their convolutions,
They renounce the house, from names, surnames.

Hatred blinds their eyes, pleasing the authorities,
The one that disgusted them with blood, mankurts, to graze.
Blackness around, and a cry: "Kill Vatnikov!"
The roar of the animal commander is the music of the flute.

They burn, crush and kill, mercy is erased.
They stain the earth with blood, they act with zeal.
Even in the mother, sister and brother - they mark right in the heart.
And the mankurts do not know: there is Good in the world.

One day the Holy Cross of the constellation will blaze in the sky,
And God's retribution will be poured on the mankurts.

Photo from the Internet

Reviews

Chingiz Aitmatov is one of my favorite writers, "And the day lasts longer than a century" is one of my favorites. You are right - everyone will receive according to their faith. Thank you, Irina, for raising this difficult topic. With warmth

Olga, thanks.
This is also my favorite piece.
I really want young people to read it. Maybe there will be fewer mankurts.
With warmth and gratitude.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF RUSSIA

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

"RUSSIAN STATE HUMANITARIAN UNIVERSITY" (RSUH)

SOCIOLOGICAL FACULTY

abstract

on the topic:« Mankurts»

Rogoza Sofia Olegovna

Head Roslyakov A.B.

Moscow 2015

Among the deep and cardinal changes that characterize the shifts in national culture, the phenomenon associated with historical consciousness, historical memory, which was especially prominent in mankurtism, should be especially noted. This phenomenon marks historical forgetfulness, various forms of falsification of the past, ignoring the previously accumulated spiritual wealth, dissection of historical events and processes.

Something similar, but in a social sense, is happening now in many CIS countries. Many people do not know anything about the past of not only their people, their country, but also their area where they live, about the traditions and history of their family. At the same time, there are people whose policy is aimed at ensuring that this oblivion not only continues, but also intensifies, so that a person is not interested in his past, the past of his environment, his homeland. All this allows us to say that mankurtism as a historical unconsciousness manifests itself in various forms, to which we would like to draw attention.

First of all, a complete disregard for the past plays a huge role in the formation of mankurtism. In many post-Soviet states, there are political forces that want to cross out the entire history associated with the existence of the Soviet country, without exception, to present it as a kind of failure in the development of civilization. And therefore, “this story” can be not known, completely ignored.

This position is closely related to such a form of mankurtism as a deliberate distortion (falsification) of the past, when historical events, the life and deeds of political figures (and not only them) are brought beyond recognition, to the deprivation of any meaning and plausibility of their actions, causes and consequences of ongoing events. . The situationality of such interpretations and explanations of the historical past is usually transient, but over the period of their functioning, the worldview of people and their activities can lead to significant costs, distortions, and sometimes to social disorientation of huge masses of people. In Russia, this was expressed in attempts to idealize the tsarist regime, when the activities of the Romanovs were presented as a boon, as the pinnacle of civilization, as an ideal social order. Especially in this sense, Nicholas II was “lucky”, whose activities were painted with the most iridescent colors. And this despite the fact that he was called “bloody”, that they did not understand his benevolence towards Rasputin, they talked about mediocrity in politics and flagrant mistakes, which allowed even monarchist-minded researchers to call him “historical insignificance”, because it was his activity that to a large extent contributed to the collapse of Russia.

In the period of transformation of the post-Soviet states, one of the alarming symptoms that mark the emergence of mankurtism with an ethnic accent is the ambitions of the ruling nationalist leaders, who seek to argue their claims to power through evidence whose people are “ancient”, whose ancestors contributed more to history than neighboring peoples. The controversy around Nagorno-Karabakh is indicative in this respect. Azerbaijani and Armenian politicians, relying on the “conclusions” of their historians, have been proving for many years who was the first to appear on this land, who mastered it, who made it the way it really is. At the same time, data from archaeological and ethnographic studies are given, the works of various thinkers and different eras are cited with one single, but mutually exclusive goal - to prove the primogeniture of one or the other side. Comprehending such situations, the well-known historian M. Gefter figuratively said: “Now there is no coffin that has the right to declare: I am closer to heaven.” Such approaches to the historical past only lead to aggravation of tension and exacerbation of interethnic relations.

Ethnic mankurtism is aimed at ignoring historical realities, at refusing to recognize the fundamental changes that have taken place, at trampling on the interests of other peoples. In this regard, I would like to recall the history of the emergence of the Dnieper Moldavian Republic (Tiraspol). The population of this unrecognized state consists of one third Moldovans, one third - Russians, one third - Ukrainians. Frontal attempts to "Moldovanize" and even "Romanize" this part of the former Soviet republic led to opposition, and then to bloodshed, to military confrontation, as a result of which people died. It was during this period that “zigzags” in the public perception of reality took place in the historical consciousness of the peoples inhabiting this republic. On the one hand, it was a reaction to many years of ignoring such ethno-national factors as the oblivion of the native language, the reduction in its teaching, the diminishing role of national literature, the intensive process of Russification, etc. On the other hand, complete disregard for the new historical situation, when the desire to preserve the historical and national past was reduced only to concern for state independence, concerning only one part of the population, forgetting about other forms of solving topical problems related not only to Moldovan, but also to other peoples who have inhabited this area for centuries.

Mankurtism is generated by the creation of fictitious false events, pseudo-processes, quasi-historical persons. These peculiar, artificially created phantoms are especially clearly manifested when the historical consciousness of individual peoples is studied, when, in assessing the past, events that seem to determine their fate stick out in their memory. Here there is an amazing interweaving of rational and emotional perception, a zealous, but little balanced assessment of the turning events in the life of his people and their consequences.

This paradoxical combination of past and present, the significance of past events for orientation in the present shows that historical memory is a powerful, active phenomenon that has no less influence on people's behavior than their assessment of their current economic situation, their disorder and restlessness in this transitional period. period. Moreover, it can be argued that it is historical memory that can aggravate or weaken the perception of events taking place in personal and social life, exacerbate negative characteristics, and help calm public and group mood.

A significant role in the formation of historical mankurts is played by methods based on vanity, attempts to elevate oneself above others. It should be noted such a feature of historical memory, when in the minds of people there is hyperbolization, an exaggeration of individual moments of the historical past, because it practically cannot claim to be a direct, systemic reflection - it rather expresses an indirect, although actualized perception and the same assessment of past events.

The significance of the hyperbolization of historical consciousness and historical memory increases in "epochs of upheavals and catastrophes", in critical periods in the life of society, when, as a rule, intensive processes of reassessment of existing orientations and the historical past take place. It is during this period that fundamental changes in existing values ​​take place, processes that are not always clear to people encourage people to look for answers to their concerns in various areas of life, including in the historical past. Under these conditions, the distorted historical consciousness becomes a powerful factor generating myths, creating fictions, fantasies, creating an imaginary image of a "heroic" or "brilliant" past in the lives of these people. This is also facilitated by the pseudo-innovative conclusions of politicians and scientists who impose their not entirely correct methods and conclusions.

Mankurtism is also formed through personal "national orphanhood", which is expressed to a large extent in the fact that it has become characteristic of the historical memory of the past of one's people, one's family, one's immediate environment. This is accompanied by ignorance of the history of one's village, city, or region.

This personal spontaneous mankurtism manifests itself primarily in complete or almost complete atrophy in relation to the historical past. This phenomenon is generated by the low level of civic consciousness of people who are not interested in the history of the country, their people, the costs of education at school and university, upbringing in the family. These data indicate that this phenomenon has been achieved to a greater extent both spontaneously, due to the lack of purposefulness of family education (lack of traditions), and as a result of state policy and position. The result of this situation is that such people often do not recognize the need for patriotic behavior skills, often become imitators of the style and lifestyle of the population of other countries. Moreover, as a rule, this is the basis for the rejection of everything national, the rejection of national pride, up to the betrayal of the Motherland. This position sometimes tries to justify itself by focusing only on current problems, on the concerns of today.

This nationwide oblivion is supplemented by the fact that a huge layer of historical consciousness associated with personal life, with those events and phenomena that people's everyday life is full of, is also deformed, has the features of spontaneous mankurtism. The activities of national heroes, geniuses, talents, their exploits and accomplishments are stored in the total historical memory as in a kind of museum. They are known from textbooks, from scientific and fiction literature. But they are few. The memory of millions and millions of others is stored in the storerooms of this museum, in the memory of only relatives, relatives and friends. But these are millions of bricks in the foundation of our historical memory, nameless workers and witnesses, without whom History itself is inconceivable and, most importantly, our involvement in it. A person cannot fully feel like a citizen of a country if he not only knows the significant events, milestones in its history, but also the genealogy of his family, the history of his city, village, his region in which he was born or lives.

Conclusion

Mankurtism is synonymous with slavery. But this is not a physical, but a spiritual concept. A person under certain circumstances, due to the impact on his psyche from the outside, turns into one.

In the mass consciousness, it is now widely believed that whoever does not know their native language and traditions is a mankurt. In essence, ignorance of the native language is not yet an obligatory sign of Mankurtism.

Mankurt should be called someone who, living in normal conditions, is not forcibly deprived of his roots, but voluntarily renounces his language, native culture, arrogantly and arrogantly treats everything native, preferring only foreign, in his opinion more modern and civilized.

Mankurtism is not an external form, but an internal essential phenomenon. According to external signs, it is wrong to classify this or that person as a mankurt.

Mankurtism undermines the ideas of patriotism, strengthens nihilism towards one's own past, subordinates people's consciousness to other ideals and goals, which by their nature are either alien or do not correspond to the national mentality. All this destroys the ideological basis of the consciousness of the people and ultimately destroys the ideals and ideological basis of the life of the people, without which any state cannot exist.

Russian journalist, publicist Vladimir Solovyov writes about Mankurtism:

“It has become fashionable to speak disparagingly about your homeland. Not about the government, but about the Motherland. For me, these people do not exist. There is nothing to talk about with them. They are a genetic mutation. Historical memory, respect for the memory of ancestors are empty words for them. Of course they breathe, walk, eat and consume. But people are not for me - mankurts. Chingiz Aitmatov was right. They show their inferiority with aggression - they are all to blame, of course, except themselves. There are quite a few of them and they believe that the number justifies them.

Unfortunately, the current generation is now suffering from historical forgetfulness. Most do not know, and more often do not want to know the recent past of their people. Unfortunately, painful unconsciousness is developing, already acquiring global proportions.

mankurtism social historical falsification

Mankurt , according to Chingiz Aitmatov's novel "Stormy Station" ("And the day lasts longer than a century"), this is a captured person turned into a soulless slave creature, completely subordinate to the owner and not remembering anything from a previous life.

There is also a version that the word Mankurt came from the abbreviation of the expression "mani құrttagan (mani kurttagan)" which means "rotten essence", "rotten foundation"

There are two ways to create a mankurt:

1) One source claims that a ring made of raw mutton skin was put on the skull of young people, and they were buried in the steppe under the heat of the sun! When the skin dried out, the slave lost his memory (when the skin dried out, the skull was deformed, while the brain was partially destroyed, and by the way the bandage had to be adjusted to a certain place in the skull) and became an animal that carried out the orders of the owner (even could kill his own mother without hesitation).

2) The second method existed, as it were, among the Yakuts. A hole was made in the skull of a mankurt for a special piece of wood (a stake-shaped chip with scars, at a certain distance), this stake was inserted into a hole, which also had to be made in a certain place of the skull (depending on the mass of the human body and the approximate structure of the skull according to a certain mark , which was determined by the shaman and injected with a pin) and after 2 days the person became a mankurt! (But in the second case, the shamans knew how to prevent the process with the help of some kind of infusion! And in the first case, it is almost impossible to stop the process)

Turkic legend about mankurt says that during one of these raids, the Dzungars captured a young batyr known in the Steppe for his courage. It was a notable loot. He could be married to a Dzungarian and made his batyr. You could learn the martial arts of your opponents from him. It could be sold for a profit. Finally, it became evidence of the military dexterity of the Dzungars, who captured the Kazakh warrior. But he always looked westward with longing and endlessly made daring attempts to escape. He was beaten, chained to a tree, starved, but he again tried to escape. Two years later, the Dzungars decided that they would use at least the strength of the batyr and his skills as a cattle breeder. To do this, it was only necessary to break his will and, most importantly, his craving for home, to the Kazakh Steppe.

Once in the summer, when the days were especially hot, the Dzungars took the batyr to a deserted place, shaved his head, pulled a fresh skin over it, put stocks on his neck and legs and left him alone. Under the rays of the scorching sun, the skin began to dry out and, shrinking, tightly fit the head of the horseman. The wide block around the neck did not allow reaching out with hands to the head in order to tear off the skin, or to smash the head on the ground. It was impossible to reach any river or mountain to drown or break. The path was not close, but on the feet - pads. All day he was tormented by thirst, and at night, when he could take a break from the heat, torture began: a terrible itching on his head drove him crazy. The jigit began to howl. He prayed to Tengri that the Dzungars would come and kill him. A day later, the skin completely dried out and covered the horseman's head with a steel helmet. The skin did not stretch, holding the skull in a vise, and each attempt to open the mouth in a scream turned into a painful shock. Two more days passed in unbearable pain under the mercilessly scorching sun. The hair growing on the head could not break through the dried and hardened skin, and in search of a way out, hundreds of thousands of needles dug into the skin on the skull, growing inside and irritating the nerve endings under the skin. It seemed to the jigit that the point of thousands of daggers were digging into his skull. On the fifth day without water under the pitiless sun, in continuous physical suffering, he fell into an unconscious state.

Then twice a day they began to bring him water. The pain receded. Dzhigit dreamed only of water, there were no other thoughts. The person who gave him drink became a god to him. Three weeks later he was brought to the camp of the Dzungars, almost insensible, but alive.

They let him out, but it was no longer a proud and impudent horseman, but a silent slave devoted to his master. The children teased him, and the girls, who only yesterday dreamed of him, averted their eyes in disgust. Those of the men who had seen the life, in whom there was the courage of warriors, looking at the silent, coward who endured humiliation with humility, the former warrior, felt shame for what they had done. However, we gradually got used to it.

The once brave captive Kazakh was forgotten by everyone, and now a fearful big man with an empty look loomed before his eyes. Mankurt was unpretentious in food, extremely hardy, childishly obedient and, which was his main advantage, did not strive anywhere, did not dream of anything, did not remember anything.

Once in the camp of the Dzungars, where the mankurt lived, a decrepit, emaciated old man with a stick appeared. He peered into the faces of the young men. He did not know the language and everyone considered him deaf and dumb. On the morning of the next day, when the old man was about to continue on his way, he saw a herd leaving to the side. Behind the herd was the one he was looking for. It was his grandson. But at the same time, it wasn't him. The weak-willed gait, the dull look of the horseman made the old man doubt. Mankurt passed by, clinging tightly to the skin on his head at the sight of a stranger.

The old man shuddered and tried to speak to the horseman. The Dzungars understood who he was, and, having decided to punish the weak old man who dared to appear here, they ordered the Dzhungar, who knew the Kazakh language, to tell the story of the mankurt. Laughing, they told the old man about what the once brave horseman had become, now silently enduring insults. Not a single muscle trembled on the stern face of the aksakal, only with his black bony hand he gripped his stick more tightly. After listening to the story to the end, the old man went away.

But he did not go far, but hid near the location of the Dzhungar camp. Thus the day passed, and the night drew near. Aksakal recalled how almost three years ago, when he was taking women and children to the steppe with the elderly, his son and eldest grandson, with other horsemen of the aul, galloped off to recapture the cattle taken away by the enemies. The cattle were recaptured, but the grandson was lassoed and taken to distant lands. They waited for him for a month, and then the old man began to get ready for the journey. If the grandson died, his body should have been given to the earth according to the custom of the ancestors. This duty kept the old man strong throughout the three years of his long wanderings.

Now he knew that his grandson was alive and well. But he is NOBODY. Only barbarians could come up with such torture. The Dzungars said that the Chinese taught them to take away the memory of a person. The Kazakhs, who from time immemorial have honored their ancestors, their roots, would rather kill a person than deprive him of his memory. Any Kazakh child knows his family in seven generations, the life history of his ancestors, the names of the great Kazakh batyrs and famous battles. And the men tried to live with dignity, knowing that seven generations of descendants would judge their actions, being proud or ashamed of their ancestor. Memory for a Kazakh was everything. This was his education. Knowledge was passed from father to son, from grandfather to grandson. The history of the clan, customs, traditions, nomadic routes, places of parking and hidden wells, chronology, the ability to "read" nature and use it reasonably, military strategy, camps of other clans, the structure of life, the hierarchy of relations within the clan - everything that the memory kept was picture of the nomad's universe. A Kazakh without memory - nothing could be worse. Now his grandson had no memory. So there was no man. There was an empty shell. It would be better if he was deprived of his legs and arms, even if he remained a man. Why didn't they just kill him?! Only a coward destroys the memory of an opponent whom he could not break. The destruction of memory is also death for a person, but just killing him is still more honest. To kill without depriving the enemy of his memory, his love in his homeland, his loyalty to his people is respect for the enemy, respect for the strength of his spirit.

Tears flowed from the old man's eyes, but he was calm. His journey has come to an end. It remains to check whether the Dzungars told the truth. Closer to dawn, the old man found the mankurt sleeping under a tree. He called him affectionately, as in childhood: "Zhanym menin, goat menin, bots." Mankurt opened his eyes, and, looking at the old man with apprehension, grabbed his head with his right hand, and stretched his left in a dive. The old man repeated the words and when the mankurt swung, he plunged the knife into the heart of his grandson with a lightning movement ... Soon the woman who brought food to the mankurt reported that he had been killed. The Dzungars, without saying a word, turned to the west and far on the horizon line they saw a lone hunched figure. There was both anger and confusion in the eyes of the men. They did not send a chase. Who needs him, a beggar, weak old man ...

According to Aitmatov, the nomadic Zhuanzhuan, who invaded the Central Asian steppes, from unsubdued captured warriors who did not want to become slaves, with the help of nightmarish torture, made a kind of biorobot "mankurt", who forgot his relatives, name and his people so much that, according to the novel "Stormy Stop" (“And the day lasts longer than a century”) to the legend one of them killed his mother - without malice, without remorse, impassively, indifferently ...

This is how Chingiz Aitmatov describes the fate of those who fell into mankurts.

The Ana Beyit cemetery had its own history.

The legend began with the fact that the Zhuanzhuans, who captured the sarozeks in past centuries, treated the captured warriors with exceptional cruelty. On occasion, they sold them into slavery in neighboring lands, and this was considered a happy outcome for the captive, because the sold slave could sooner or later flee to his homeland. A monstrous fate awaited those whom the Zhuanzhua-ny left in their slavery. They destroyed the memory of the slave with a terrible torture - by putting Shiri on the head of the victim. Usually this fate befell young guys captured in battles. At first, their heads were completely shaved, each hair was carefully scraped under the root. By the time the shaving of the head was over, experienced Zhuanzhuang killers were slaughtering a seasoned camel nearby. When skinning a camel skin, the first duty was to separate its heaviest, densest part of the skin. Having divided the neck into pieces, it was immediately put on in pairs on the shaved heads of prisoners with instantly sticking plasters - like modern swimming caps. This meant putting on wide. The one who was subjected to such a procedure either died, unable to withstand the torture, or lost his memory for life, turned into a mankurt - a slave who does not remember his past. The skin of one camel was enough for five or six widths. After putting on the breadth, each doomed person was shackled with a wooden neck block so that the test subject could not touch his head to the ground. In this form, they were taken away from crowded places so that their heart-rending cries would not be heard in vain, and they were thrown there in an open field, with hands and feet tied, in the sun, without water and without food. The torture lasted for several days. Only reinforced patrols guarded the approaches in certain places in case the fellow tribesmen of the captives tried to help them out while they were alive. But such attempts were made extremely rarely, because any movement is always noticeable in the open steppe. And if later there was a rumor that such and such was turned into a mankurt by the Zhuanzhuans, then even the closest people did not seek to save or ransom him, because this meant returning the effigy of the former person. And only one Naiman mother, who remained in the legend under the name of Naiman-Ana, did not reconcile herself to the similar fate of her son. The Sarozek legend tells about it. And hence the name of the cemetery Ana-Beyit - Maternal Repose.

Thrown into the field to agonizing torture, most died under the Sarozek sun. One or two mankurts out of five or six remained alive. They died not from hunger and not even from thirst, but from unbearable, inhuman torments caused by drying out, shrinking rawhide camel skin on the head. Inexorably shrinking under the rays of the scorching sun, the width squeezed, squeezing the shaved head of a slave like an iron hoop. Already on the second day, the shaved hair of the martyrs began to sprout. Coarse and straight Asian hair sometimes grew into rawhide, in most cases, finding no way out, the hair bent and again went into the scalp with its ends, causing even greater suffering. The last tests were accompanied by a complete clouding of reason. Only on the fifth day did the Zhuanzhuans come to check whether any of the prisoners had survived. If at least one of the tortured was caught alive, it was believed that the goal was achieved. They gave him water to drink, freed him from the shackles, and eventually restored his strength, raised him to his feet. This was the mankurt slave, forcibly deprived of memory and therefore very valuable, worth ten healthy slaves. There was even a rule - in the case of the murder of a mankurt slave in internecine clashes, the ransom for such damage was set three times higher than for the life of a free tribesman.

Mankurt did not know who he was, where he came from, the tribe, did not know his name, did not remember childhood, father and mother - in a word, mankurt did not realize himself as a human being. Deprived of understanding his own "I", mankurt from an economic point of view had a number of advantages. He was equivalent to a dumb creature and therefore absolutely submissive and safe. He never thought of running away. For any slave owner, the worst thing is the uprising of a slave. Every slave is a potential rebel. Mankurt was the only exception of his kind - he was fundamentally alien to urges to rebellion, disobedience. He did not know such passions. And therefore there was no need to guard him, to keep guard and even more so to suspect him of secret plans. Mankurt, like a dog, recognized only his owners. He did not interact with others. All his thoughts were reduced to satisfying the womb. He knew no other worries. But he performed the assigned work blindly, diligently, steadily. Mankurts were usually forced to do the most dirty, hard work, or they were assigned to the most tedious, onerous tasks that required dull patience. Only the mankurt could endure alone the endless wilderness and desertedness of the sarozeks, being inseparable from the distant herd of camels. He alone at such a distance replaced many workers. It was only necessary to supply him with food - and then he was invariably at work in winter and summer, not burdened by savagery and not complaining about hardships. The command of the owner for the mankurt was above all. For himself, except for food and cast-offs, so as not to freeze in the steppe, he did not demand anything ...

It is much easier to remove the captive's head or cause any other harm to frighten the spirit than to beat off a person's memory, destroy his mind, tear out the roots of what stays with a person until his last breath, remaining his only acquisition, leaving with him and inaccessible. nym for others. But the nomadic zhuanzhuans, who brought out the most cruel kind of barbarism from their total history, encroached on this innermost essence of man. They found a way to deprive the slaves of their living memory, thereby inflicting on human nature the heaviest of all conceivable and inconceivable atrocities. It is no coincidence, after all, lamenting over her son, turned into a mankurt, Naiman-Ana said in frenzied grief and despair:

"When your memory was torn away, when your head, my child, was squeezed like a nut with pincers, pulling your skull together with a slow collar of drying camel skin, when an invisible hoop was planted on your head so that your eyes protruded from their sockets, filled with the ichor of fear, when on a smokeless fire Sarozek's dying thirst tormented you and there was not a drop that fell from the sky on your lips - did the sun, which gives life to everyone, become for you a hated, blinded luminary, the blackest among all the luminaries in the world?

When, torn apart by pain, your scream stood heart-rending in the middle of the desert, when you screamed and rushed about, calling on God for days, nights, when you were waiting for help from the vain sky, when, choking in vomit, torn out by the torments of the flesh, and writhing in the vile shit that bled from a body twisted in convulsions, when you faded away in that stench, losing your mind, eaten by a cloud of flies, did you curse with the last forces of God that he created us all in the world he himself abandoned?