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Introduction
For folklorists, anthropologists, and other scholars of oral tradition, “mythology” typically refers to a genre of narratives whose actions are set in the ancient or primordial past (Schrempp, 2019). According to Hroar Klempe (2011, p. 219) the one that really introduced myths and mythical thinking as a part of a general epistemological discussion was Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945). Out of his three volumes which present “The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms”, the second from 1925 is dedicated to “Mythical Thought”. However, despite this conceptualization, mythology and mythical thought is common to all peoples, being an important part of their idiosyncrasy.
Azerbaijani mythology is comprised of complex representations of the Azerbaijani people's experiences. It is mostly built on human heroics and knowledge, as seen in epics like the Epic of Köroglu and the Epic of Dədə Qorqud but also numerous myths feature supernatural beings and natural elements, like the Treeman or Woodman, Tepegz, dragons, and lions with snake-like tails. The Karabakh War is just one example of a historical event that is the subject of myths and folklore. This way people frequently utilize these myths and legends to explain how they perceive the world and the things that happen in it.
In the second half of the last century, artistic myth creation in foreign and domestic literature was actively carried out by representatives of modernism, and later, representatives of postmodernism. The strengthening of artistic mythologism was also characterized in the work of writers and dramatists in the mentioned period. Myth, being an interesting and complex phenomenon in world culture, has occupied the thinking in various fields of science. The appeal of representatives of artistic art to mythologism has been so consistent and intensive that even in Russian literary studies and aesthetic thought special concepts such as "Dostoevsky cosmos", "Tutchev cosmos", "Lermontov cosmos" have been included in the circulation. In addition to those whose names are mentioned in Russian literature, F. Sologub, V. Khlebnikov, A. Blok, A. Akhmatova, and before them, Azerbaijani thinkers Imaddin Nasimi, Khatib Tabrizi, Gazi Burhanaddin, Abasgulu Agha Bakikhanov, Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, Ali Bey Huseynzade, Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli, Jalil Mammadguluzade, Huseyn Javid, Jafar Jabbarli and others created a unique poetic form of mythological thought in their scientific-artistic, philosophical-aesthetic views. Thus, the attitude to mythical thinking has given a special impetus to their creativity by demonstrating itself not only in the scientific-historical aspect but also at the religious-philosophical level.
Mythology and artistic creation are closely related, as myths provide a source of inspiration and meaning for artists. Myths often contain powerful symbols, stories, and characters that can be interpreted in a variety of ways by different artists. Myths also provide a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds and help to explain the unknown and unexplainable. By interpreting symbols and characters from myths in an artistic way, artists can create powerful and meaningful works that reflect the underlying themes of the myth. Additionally, myths can be used to explore the relationship between humans and the divine, and to create works that explore the power of faith and the human experience.
In mythology, three characteristic features of the symbols are observed:
symbols reflect reality.
symbols are figurative images that change with feelings.
the form of the artistic image is not separated from the content.
The famous research scientist R. Barth has a famous saying: the myth creates a second semiological system that does not want to open or abolish the concept, but to naturalize it (Barth, 2000, p. 270). But here the meaning is not completed by his own "physicality". K. Lévi-Strauss believes that the myth fulfills its symbolic function precisely with its unchanging structure. At the same time, there are many idioms that bring the concepts of symbol and myth closer, all of which point to the symbolic meaning of the myth. We find a similar opinion in E. Kassirer. He explains the myth as a closed symbolic system (a myth is a symbolic form with the help of which a person destroys the chaos in which he is surrounded). In general, the symbolic school explained myths as symbols in which the ancient priests concealed their wisdom. In his works on mythology, R. Barth confirmed the symbolic nature of the myth (Barth, 2000, p. 215). Therefore, Y. Meletinsky, speaking about the literature of the 20th century, noted that mythology in literature is a symbolic system, and that is why he claimed that mythology is truly symbolic (Meletinsky, 2000, pp. 277-278).
It is known that Y. Meletinsky reveals this picture by using the well-known philosophical logic, which is different from mythological logic, especially the subject-object, nature-culture, animal-man, which describes the conflicts of the modern world. But the modern world strives to dissolve these conflicts and contradictions even more, because they have not been the main thing for the human race, which has been in direct contact with mythology, for thousands of years.
In the words of Valiyev (2013, p. 6) "Myth - has a religious-philosophical meaning that is not fully understood in today's sense of the world, philosophy, and folk science, and sometimes it is impossible to understand and cannot be clearly understood". By the way, let's note that this should not be understood only as I. Valiyev's desire to interpret the myth. Because most mythologists explain mythology as follows. For example, according to F. Jevons, "So far, there is no theory of myth accepted by everyone." Thus, F. Jevons writes: "Myth is not a religion, nor a source of religion; it is primitive philosophy, science, and fate, fiction. Religion can pick and choose myths and discard those that do not suit it" (Tokareva, 2008, p. 864). V.K. Afanasiyeva says: "Myths are a work of folk fantasy that naively explains the truths in the real world. They are born from the natural interests of a person, from the first stage of development, based on work experience; along with the growth of material production, the circle of mythological fantasy expands, and its content becomes more complex (Tokareva, 2008, p. 865). Despite this, myth is an ancient concept of the surrounding world, an important phenomenon of culture and history, and it stands in the spotlight as the core of the essence of humans.
Considering the above, the objective of this work is to analyze the expressions of mythological thought in the work of Azerbaijani playwright, poet, and screenwriter Jafar Jabbarli, specifically in the play “The Bride of Fire”. This election is not random since the author is known for creating works of fiction that explore the power of myth and its effect on the collective consciousness as well as Jabbarli's works often center around the idea that myths can be used to understand the deeper truths of life and explore the notion that there may be more to life than meets the eye.
The following methods were used during the study: 1) theoretical-historical comparative analysis; 2) documental analysis of the literary-pedagogical press and other relevant scientific-historical materials. With the help of the historical-comparative method, it is concluded that totemism was widely used as a belief system governing the mythological thought of Azerbaijan, and the attitude to the problem was analyzed in a comparative way. It is justified that every mythological society with its own mythical rules obeys the figurative mythic thought of reality in this development. In the later stages, figurative thinking gains value and turns into spiritual reality, and rises to the level of mythological belief. In further processes, mythological belief plays the role of regulating the existence of mythological society. So, in order to reach more objective conclusions in the article the scientific-artistic, philosophical-aesthetic views of several academicians are addressed.
Development
Myth is the original syncretic cradle of all ideologies and various cultures - literature, art, religion, but also philosophy and even science. The differentiation of the primitive syncretic culture leads to a partial demythologization, but the demythologization itself is not always complete, but relative, periodically replacing it with remythologization, which in most cases is more relevant to our age (period). As the XIX century positivists believed, science could not suppress mythology. First of all, because science is the meaning of life, the direction, and purpose of history, the cause of death, etc. but cannot solve general metaphysical problems. Myth generally excludes intractable problems and tends to explain problems that are quite difficult to implement in terms that are solvable and comprehensible. Understanding is not the sole and primary purpose of myth. Its main goal is the protection of personal, public, natural, social, and cosmic rules and controls over them. It is important to create a more effective practical side of a single ritual-mythological complex rather than the help of rites (rituals) to myths.
The relationship between myth and symbol is considered by us in terms of the functions of myth and symbol itself: as we mentioned above, myth and symbol give such feelings that it is "impossible to say". We find confirmation of this in the works of R. Barth: "...in the mythical concept, we can find foggy knowledge created with the help of vague (soft) associations, which can also be attributed to symbols. Myth mainly prefers to work with the help of weak images, where the goal is already weak enough, interested in the direction of meaning. For example, caricatures, parodies, symbols, etc. that's exactly it" (Barth, 2000, p. 225).
In his judgments, playwright Jafar Jabbarli believes in the depth and importance of the fertility of mythology, but also holds opinions and judgments about its ability to create relationships, prophetic capabilities, or rather, the ability to understand the future. In Jafar Jabbarli's work, religious views, and attitude towards religion play an important role. The conducted researches also show that, whether in Azerbaijan or in other countries, the Islamic religion, which opposed local religious beliefs, was introduced by force, fire and sword, and met with great resistance among the people. The best example of this is the uprising under the leadership of Babak, the Azerbaijani national hero who dealt heavy blows to the Arab caliphs in the IX century like Annadimi in the IX century, Tabari, Masudi, Ioanes in the X century, Abu Mansur in the XI century, Shahristani in the XII century, Abulfaraj, Ibn-al-Asir and Stepanos Obreil in the XIII century, Ibn Khaldun in the XIV century, Mirkhond and Khandemir in the XV-XVI centuries, Abbasgulu Agha Bakikhanov wrote in the XIX century, VAsilyev, Barthold and other prominent historians in the XX century (Valiyev, 2013, p. 5).
In the X century, one of the provinces of Azerbaijan was named the country of Babek. Abbasgulu Agha Bakikhanov shows that, according to popular traditions, the name Azerbaijan is formed from two words, that is, Azer-Babakan (Babek fire). Babek fire is still used as a symbol of bravery, fearlessness and bravery. The magnificent Talysh mountains, where Babek and his horsemen settled, and the Bazz castle, which was considered the headquarters, were glorified as an invincible castle in the works of poets and lovers.
Babek, who became a rebel in his youth, traveled with caravans, saw the sufferings of the people everywhere, and had a deep hatred for oppressors in his heart. The rebels under his leadership defeated the caliph's six armies one after the other. A strong panic reigned in the capital of the Caliphate and because of that, a huge reward was set for Babek's head. He was hypocritically promised that "if he surrenders, he will be forgiven". The hero proudly answered this offer and said: "It is better to live free for one day than to be a slave like a vile for forty years!" In this case, the caliph had to send his main force against the rebels. Armed from head to toe, the troops were able to crush the rebels after inflicting heavy casualties. Babek was treacherously captured by one of the local feudal lords, whom he asked for refuge, handed over to the caliph and tragically executed.
Babek's artistic image is reflected in a number of works of various genres, both in the literature of the former Soviet Azerbaijan and in the literature of South Azerbaijan. It is known that people's writer Anvar Mammadkhanli, writer Taleh Shahsuvarli, Akif Ali, Abil Yusifov and others wrote dramas and novels about Babek. But among them, the image of Babek (Elkhan) in Jafar Jabbarli's play "The Bride of Fire" is given as a more militant and determined hero.
In "Bride of Fire" it is convincingly shown that the religion of Islam, above all, served the caliphs and their policies of exploitation and occupation. Here, Jafar Jabbarli, as a completely atheistic writer, proves the futility of all religions, that they are a means of enslaving and robbing workers. The positive image of the work reflects a number of characteristics of Babak, the rebellious folk hero who opposed the occupation of the Arab caliphate. His struggle against the head of the occupying army, Abu Ubaydah, and the Islamic religion in general, does not intend to protect fire worshipers from the attack of the Islamic religion. Since Elkhan has set himself the goal of building a free life, he also fights against fire worship and local feudal lords - altunbays, who are its patrons. The hero's struggle becomes all religious and anti-God. Elkhan gathers the poor people who have retreated to the mountains and creates a free government. Playwright J. Jabbarli skilfully uses the belief in the death and resurrection of Yanardag and those around him to express his irony. Although death and resurrection are artistic tools in literary creativity, they can also become an indicator of ethnic-national identity, indicate that there is a person who believes in them, and at the same time they inform about the myth about this belief.
We see that J. Jabbarli brings out the possibilities of mutual manifestation of the view of faith in written literature. Therefore, since the national consciousness is formed on the basis of the ethnic consciousness, there is no doubt that the mythological belief is pesent on the work "Bride of Fire". Mythological belief has entered folklore as an important element of ethnocultureand it is an example of cosmic thinking, a remnant of the never-broken ethnic code system that controls the ethical behavior of our ancestors, connecting them to their old world, and also controls the consciousness of modern man. When a mythological belief matures, its belief form already has a textual character in a modeled way.
Mythological belief has the ability to control the consciousness of modern man. The main reason for this is that the archaic codes in our thinking manifest themselves at any time. In fact, a person cannot live apart from those people in this development process. The reason for this is that our historical consciousness is connected to ethnic-national thinking.
Russian scientists such as Losev (1994), Toporov (1991), Averintsev (1970), Meletinsky (2000), and Lotman (1997) conducted research and analysis during the history of our ancestors. It is shown that our ancient ancestors, while perceiving each event and object in the mythological world surrounding them in a unique way, appropriated that event and object in the form of an image through the sense of feeling. It is belief that takes the form of faith through this process and this process takes different forms in each ethnic group and controls the life of the society. Therefore, it is possible to determine to whom any belief belongs according to its function. This is an important factor that reveals the national identity of the ethnos in mythology. In fact, what the great ancestors experienced consciously, modern people experience under the influence of those who sit in the subconscious layer.
At this level, mythological beliefs and motives are involved in the art of words in two forms. On the one hand, it is life itself, on the other hand, mythology finds its description here as an example of life. That is why A.Losev rightly emphasized that "myth is a fiction, a fantastic fiction, but at the same time it is a category of logical, first of all, dialectical consciousness and existence" (Losev, 2001, p. 36). The life of the ethnos is organically connected to certain professions and arts that the members of the tribe were engaged in in the primitive ages. For example, hunting plays a role in the life of the community as an ancient profession. The profession of hunting itself has depended on the mythological belief and belief forms derived from this profession, and their manifestation characteristics. Ancient hunting tribes performed rituals that reflected a certain form of belief in order to ensure good hunting. What confirms the national identity of the hunter tribe is the totem worldview, which is the biggest belief system of its own. It is clear from the work that just as the belief system governs the life of the tribe, it also becomes the patron of arts and professions of people in the life of the tribe. In this respect, the process of personalization of totems depends on the art practiced by that tribe. Due to this feature, the concept of totem is replaced by the concept of cult during the tribal period.
Mythology is one of the main means of understanding and explaining the world and existence. People have been trying to understand and explain the world and existence since they came to the enlightened world. This aspect was primarily related to his own interests, or rather, man was eager to explain all the issues he faced for the first time in order to live comfortably and fearlessly in the world. Man's first explanations have been refined and turned into beliefs over time. As a result, a system has been formed in the world, which is inextricably linked with each other, has many components of beliefs and has become perfect. Beydili rightly points out that "all ancient folklore genres, starting from archaic mythological epics to magic tales, ceremonial folklore and riddles, take their source from mythology. This way, mythology, which is the source of national-spiritual culture and the most primitive form of history, is a system of dynamic signs that explains creation with its own laws and regulates the patterns of thought and behavior of ethnic-cultural tradition bearers" (Beydili, 2007, pp. 20-21).
In the work, the main essence of this religion was exposed in the scene of the dispute between Abu Ubayd, who was presented as the governor of the caliphate and the messenger of Islam, to collect a large amount of taxes from the local population, to present girls to the harem of Amir al-Momin, to send oil to Arabia with camels, and in the scene of the argument he had with Yanardag, the chief priest of the truce. Abu Ubayd has already come to the conclusion that the beautiful Solmaz is a saint, the people love him and do not want to part with him. He is the one who gives Elkhan strength to fight. As long as Solmaz lives, Elkhan will not get tired. That is why Solmaz should be eliminated. Yanardag, who initially objected to Abu Ubayd's order "Solmaz must be burned", "When he put forward the proposition that "there is no human sacrifice" either in fire worship or in Islam, Abu Ubayd told him: "Leaving aside Islam, I say frankly, Solmaz must disappear!" - resorting to all kinds of treachery in order to realize his conquest intentions faster.
It would be better to clarify an issue here from the point of view of Jafar Jabbarli's creativity. In his studies, A. Kim, who talks extensively about the unbreakable connection between music and myth, writes that he asked the question: "Who created whom - you created me, or I created you, or we both create each other; my unknown mind, or my mysterious-magical and unhappy mind, is in you, the father of the Universe. You should not leave your children to the hope of God, not to be a smuggler, not to show a face, not to let orphans cry in the star rustling in the bottomless nights?" (Kim, 1952, p. 622).
Here the heretical appeal to God resonates with the ideas of the Russian religious-philosophical cosmologists. The Creator has not finished his creation and it can only be realized with the help of this world, the world can move forward with the help of his free creativity, where the human race itself is the active force of world building. A more frightening force is the banality and distortion of the cosmostructure of the human mission, the fulfillment of tasks directed only at the animalistic filling of the belly, the fight against empty things and its lowest biological manifestation: "Why worry so much about a lot of money, power and food?" is it necessary?... Perhaps that is why "the highest essence of existence ... is the stomach, and its constant excitement is the emptiness in the stomach... To the fear of the hollowness of the stomach we owe to this existence an important initiator and deviant energy, the latter, who are not outwardly distinguished from men, follow the former with great enthusiasm, they strive to serve in the highest level of stomach care, but also in administrative talent" (Kim, 1988, p. 621).
Elkhan and his supporters, who fought against the Arab invading army and the Islamic religion that he brought to Azerbaijan, also spoke out against the fire-worshipping religion and the local feudal lords who supported it. Elkhan's struggle turns against all religions. Together with him, the reader and the viewer decide that oppression, torture, the gallows, the lamentation of the oppressed, poverty, exploitation, etc. are the tragedies of fictional gods. Elkhan, is also witness of these tragedies in the work, works to create a "new and free world" free from oppression, slavery and injustice, he builds a society of "Khurramis" together with the hard workers who retreated to the mountains because of the atrocities committed by invaders and local feudal lords using the name of religion. There is no religion or god in this society based on the principle of equality. Seeing the situation like this, Abu Ubayd intends to use Elkhan, who is leading the people after him. He knows very well that Elkhan "is a thoughtful person, if he accepts Islam, he is as important as an army." However, it is impossible to convert Elkhan to Islam. Just as the tears of Solmaz, who was given the Quran, could not break the will of Elkhan, who had lost his friends as a result of the subsequent struggles, and could not turn him from the path he had taken, the insistence of his brother Agshin and finally the gallows he prepared could not shake him. On the contrary, these measures increase the hatred against the judges and the Islamic religion. Elkhan Agshin's "La ilaha illallah!" he said, rejecting the offer to convert to Islam, and in his last breath, "No God!" by saying that he chooses the gallows under the golden flag and shakes the most bigoted Muslims with his determination, and makes them doubt the existence of God.
It should be noted that the most important thing for Jafar Jabbarli is not only the relationship between man and his natural integrity, but also the relationship between individual people in harmony and the relationship with the conditions of life of nature. J. Jabbarli specially noted earth, water, air, and fire, which are considered natural primary elements in unity as a cosmic whole. C. Jabbarli widely uses the primary elements of surahs and verses from the Holy Book of the Qur'an in his works, expanding the scope of these concepts at the expense of cosmic events and considering them together with natural landscapes, the course of history, and the place and role of man in the world. It is from here that J. Jabbarli's belief in the harmony of elements, space and man (in the embodiment of the idea of wholeness) manifests itself.
As primary elemental images, issues related to these first elements of existence form a chain in Jabbarli's work. In "The Bride of Fire", the image of the sky and the images of sky lights, meaning, the images of the sun, moon and stars are inextricably linked. These characters are the main characters in the sky lights game. The concepts of the moon and the sun create a binary mythopoetic unity in his work. In some peoples, the sun is represented as a woman and the moon as a man. In other nations, on the contrary, the moon is presented as a woman and the sun as a man. "Moon" and "Sun" can be equated and used with the meanings of "Allah" and "Divine" according to their meanings.
In the scene where Aghshin and Elkhan meet, two occupations, two worldviews, two beliefs stand against each other. A. A. Tuganov, the first production director of the "Bride of Fire" play, writes: "When Elkhan and Aghshin were facing each other on the stage, everyone defended the superiority of their profession and religion as the most bigoted person. When Aghshin, the publisher of Islam, praised this religion, the call to prayer could be heard from behind the stage. We were waiting for this place on the stage with a heartbeat... Elkhan's mouth said "No god!" his words sounded with such force that it aroused excitement in every audience". The emotion of the play is better reflected in the following episode:
Akshin - Is there really a god?
Rabi - Will the spoils be sent?
Aqshin - (As if Rabi's words woke up Aqshin) La hawla wala qahtate illah wa billah aliyyul-azim... Send the captives and the spoils. Solmaz will remain under my protection. Write that those who rebelled against the One God and Amir al-Momin's caliph were cut off. The war is over.
Solmaz - Write my word too, write that the war is not over (shoots Akshini), the fight continues...
Fearless - Come on, free eagles, forward!
Rabi - What is it? Has the enemy raided? Come on, Islamic Mujahideen, forward (Rabi runs with his soldiers).
Gorkhmaz - (Taking Elkhan's flag) Brothers, Elkhan is gone, but his thoughts live on and the battle continues (Jabbarli, 2005, p. 118).
Undoubtedly, this episode in the version we are talking about provides additional new information for a deeper understanding of the idea set in "Bride of Fire". Unfortunately, the above-mentioned words were not included in "Bride of Fire" and can be found only when referring to the first source.
In addition to what we have said about Jafar Jabbarli's work, let us also note that the ritual in mythology is the basis of the religious views of the primitive man. When the great artist who uses the ritual makes the generalizations inherent in image creation about this process, the image also becomes the expresser of the essence of the ritual. When the dramatic work aims to give the inner world of the image, it also preserves its qualities from the ritual.
From the work of J. Jabbarli, who is considered the founder of the former Soviet dramaturgy, we find out that the archetype, mythological symbolism and ritual problems that have not lost their importance in Azerbaijani or Russian mythology today, having their place in the fiction of both nations, the epic reflection of the world of archetypes and ideas in artistic examples, In literature, the problem of archetypal images, mythological symbols, ritual and pictorial creativity is at a working level in the writer's thinking, and it is also important in his/her artistic creativity.
In our opinion, we can say that "Bride of Fire" has always served the former Soviet ideology. This work, which brings out the reactionary essence of all religions, especially Islam, played a prominent role in the fight against religion and superstition. If we take a deep look, we will see that the rich ethno-mythological world and ethnographic cultural issues are at the root of all J. Jabbarli's works, and the way of approaching the issue here is quite special. That is why the attitude of readers and critics to Jabbarli's mythological work "Bride of Fire" was ambiguous.
J. Jabbarli's drama work is considered primarily as a private writer's development and is a literary event that organizes mythic thinking, fairy tale, epic development, their internal and external formulas, new text technology in the text of a novel (at the same time, a narrative). By creatively taking advantage of the rich mythological, fairy-tale and epic examples of the Turkic peoples, including the Azerbaijani people, the writer succeeded in exhibiting his special attitude to the path of human society and its development stages through his artistic style. As is known, every nation approaches the creation of the world from its own mythological point of view. Legends and narratives, epics and fairy tales contain information about the creation of the world and the existence of another existence before this creation. Jafar Jabbarli approached all of them with his own "arshin" in his work "Fire Bride". As a result of all this, he managed to create his own art samples based on the traditions of modern Azerbaijani literature from mythology and epos and signed originality in art with new meaning-creating and text-creating artistic figures.
Conclusions
J. Jabbarli improved the possibilities of mutual manifestation of the view of faith in written literature, national consciousness precisely on the basis of ethnic consciousness. In this sense, successful feeding from archaic myth and folklore is the quality of the drama "Bride of Fire". Agreeing with the reasoning given as an example, it is also necessary to note that in addition to the connection with folklore and epics, this drama of Jafar Jabbarli is based on mythological belief as a whole. Throughout his work, Jafar Jabbarli formed concepts such as mythological symbol, chronotype and mythological thinking in the reader. He did not aim to create an external effect by basing his drama "Bride of Fire" on the model of a myth, but first of all, he took the initiative to illuminate his ideas about man, his pain, suffering, joy, problems, spiritual and moral world in a different form. This way, Jafar Jabbarli determined the transition from the mythological thought system of Azerbaijan to mythic thinking.
Jafar Jabbarli also compared how cosmological myths are reflected in written cultural examples, not only in Azerbaijan but also in European and Russian mythological thought system. Nurtured by all this knowledge, in the drama "Bride of Fire", J. Jabbarli reflected his irrational thinking in the moments described and described by the heroes and brought this approach to the fore. As a result, the peculiarities of the idea-content and problematics of the drama are interpreted according to the logic of the text itself. J. Jabbarli is undoubtedly an exceptionally talented artist whose work transcends his time, and about whom much remains to be said.
