The scientific seminar was held at the Department “Dede Gorgud” of the Institute of Folklore of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS). At the seminar, Khuraman Karimova, a senior research fellow at the department, PhD in Philology and Associate Professor and Gulkhara Ahmadova, a leading research fellow, made presentations.

The seminar began with a presentation by Khuraman Karimova entitled “Female and male characters in “The Book of Dede Gorgud: Heroism, Family and Social Relations”. The scholar comparatively analyzed the heroic qualities, family relationships, social positions, psychological experiences and moral values of female and male characters in the epic.

Khuraman Karimova noted that female characters were not confined to family and domestic relationships. Rather, they were portrayed as active individuals who influence the development of events, make independent decisions and participate in battles when necessary.

In her presentation, she mentioned that family relationships, father-son bonds, mutual respect between husbands and wives, reverence for mothers and responsibility toward the community were among the central moral values reflected in the epic.

The seminar continued with a presentation by Gulkhara Ahmadova, a senior research fellow at the department, entitled “The Poetic and Semantic Features of Characters in “The Book of Dede Gorgud”. She analyzed the characteristic traits and symbolic meanings of the epic’s principal characters, as well as their relationship with artistic means of expression.

The folklorist explained that the character of Dede Gorgud embodies the collective memory, wisdom, and moral authority of Oghuz society. She noted the combination of individual heroism and social responsibility in the character of Khan Kazan, while drawing attention to the interplay of bravery, love, loyalty and moral resilience in the character of Bamsi Beyrek.

Gulkhara Ahmadova also explained the functions of poetic devices such as epithets, hyperbole, repetition, parallelism, antithesis, and epic idealization in the artistic portrayal of characters. She noted that these devices serve not only to reveal the individual characteristics of the heroes but also to illuminate their social positions, moral essence, and symbolic significance.

The seminar concluded with an exchange of views on the topics discussed. The presenters answered questions from the participants.