As part of the VIII International Symposium “From the Common Turkic Past to the Common Turkic Future” organized by the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) and the Institute of Folklore ANAS, the fourth panel session entitled “The Turkic Epic Tradition: Text, Context and the Problems of Historical Memory”, was held on July 2. The session took place in the Ahmet Baitursynuly Hall on the second floor of the ANAS Central Scientific Library and was moderated by Professor Kenzhekhan Matizhanov of the M.O. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art and Professor of the Institute of Folklore ANAS Afzaladdin Asgar.

The panel focused on the historical development of the Turkic epic tradition, the impact of political persecution and repression on Turkological scholarship, textual issues concerning the Book of Dede Gorgud, the textual and contextual dimensions of the Oghuznamas, Turkic mythological memory, national identity, folklore genres and the heritage of émigré intellectuals.

The opening presentation was delivered by Professor Kenzhekhan Matizhanov, who spoke on “Persecuted and Repressed Kazakh Turkology: From Akhmet Baitursynov to Olzhas Suleymanov”.

Professor of the Institute of Folklore ANAS Afzaladdin Asgar presented a paper entitled “Scribal Additions in the Dresden Manuscript of the Book of Dede Gorgud and the Question of the Origins of Its Manuscripts”.

Associate Professor of the Institute of Folklore ANAS Atif Islamzade delivered a presentation on “The Text and Context Problem of the Book of Dede Gorgud and Oghuznama Narratives as a Central Issue in Turkological Folklore Studies”. He mentioned that the Oghuznamas constitute an essential part of the shared folklore heritage of the Turkic peoples. His presentation underscored the importance of recognizing the Book of Dede Gorgud as an epic heritage belonging to the entire Turkic world and highlighted the value of comparative studies of the Oghuznamas in different historical and cultural contexts.

Associate Professor of the Institute of Folklore ANAS Aynura Safarova presented a paper entitled “The Silenced Voice of National Identity: The Prohibition of the Book of Dede Gorgud”.

Associate Professor of the Institute of Manuscripts named after Muhammad Fuzuli Leyla Karimova also presented the theme “The Place and Significance of the Qoshiq Poetic Genre in Uzbek Folklore”.

The panel concluded with extensive discussions on the textual and contextual issues of the Turkic epic tradition, the preservation of historical memory, the study of national cultural heritage and contemporary scholarly approaches to researching the shared epic heritage of the Turkic world.