Ashik

Ashik Ağalar Mikayılov playing the saz
Ashugh Jivani (center, playing the kamani) with instrumentalists
Soviet stamp from 1962 devoted to Sayat-Nova's 250 anniversary.

An ashik (Azerbaijani: aşıq, azb:آشؽق; Turkish: âşık; —all from Azerbaijani: aç) or ashugh (Armenian: աշուղ; Georgian: აშუღი)[1]: 1365 [2][3] is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as hikaye) or a shorter original composition—with a long-necked lute (usually a bağlama or saz)[4]: 225  in Azerbaijani culture, including Turkish and South Azerbaijani[4] and non-Turkic cultures of South Caucasus (primarily Armenian and Georgian).[5]: 15–36 [6]: 47 [7][3] In Azerbaijan, the modern ashik is a professional musician who usually serves an apprenticeship, masters playing the bağlama, and builds up a varied but individual repertoire of Turkic folk songs.[8]

An ashik performance in Tabriz

The word ashiq (Arabic: عاشق, meaning "in love" or "lovelorn") is the nominative form of a noun derived from the word ishq (Arabic: عشق, "love"), which in turn may be related to the Avestan and Persian iš- ("to wish, desire, seek").[9] The term is synonymous with ozan [tr] in Turkish and Azerbaijani, which it superseded during the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries.[10]: 368 [11] Other alternatives include saz şair (meaning "saz poet") and halk şair ("folk poet"). In Armenian, the term gusan, which referred to creative and performing artists in public theaters of Parthia and ancient as well as medieval Armenia, is often used as a synonym. [5]: 20 [1]: 851–852 

  1. ^ a b The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2. Routledge. 2013. ISBN 978-1136095948.
  2. ^ Russell, James R. (2018). "43. From Parthia to Robin Hood: The Epic of the Blind Man's Son". In DiTommaso, Lorenzo; Henze, Matthias; Adler, William (eds.). The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone. Leiden: Brill. pp. 878–898. ISBN 9789004355880. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b Ziegler, Susanne (1997). "East Meets West - Urban Musical Styles in Georgia". In Stockmann, Doris; Koudal, Henrik Jens (eds.). Historical Studies on Folk and Traditional Music: ICTM Study Group on Historical Sources of Folk Music, Conference Report, Copenhagen, 24–28 April 1995. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 159–161. ISBN 8772894415.
  4. ^ a b Shidfar, Farhad (5 February 2019). "Azerbaijani Ashiq Saz in West and East Azerbaijan Provinces of Iran". In Özdemir, Ulas; Hamelink, Wendelmoet; Greve, Martin (eds.). Diversity and Contact Among Singer-Poet Traditions in Eastern Anatolia. Ergon Verlag. ISBN 978-3956504815.
  5. ^ a b Yang, Xi (5 February 2019). "History and Organization of the Anatolian Ašuł/Âşık/Aşıq Bardic Traditions". In Özdemir, Ulas; Hamelink, Wendelmoet; Greve, Martin (eds.). Diversity and Contact Among Singer-Poet Traditions in Eastern Anatolia. Ergon Verlag. ISBN 978-3956504815.
  6. ^ Kardaş, Canser (5 February 2019). "The Legacy of Sounds in Turkey: Âşıks and Dengbêjs". In Özdemir, Ulas; Hamelink, Wendelmoet; Greve, Martin (eds.). Diversity and Contact Among Singer-Poet Traditions in Eastern Anatolia. Ergon Verlag. ISBN 978-3956504815.
  7. ^ Babayan, Kathryn; Pifer, Michael (7 May 2018). An Armenian Mediterranean: Words and Worlds in Motion. Springer. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-3319728650.
  8. ^ Colin P. Mitchell (Editor), New Perspectives on Safavid Iran: Empire and Society, 2011, Routledge, 90–92
  9. ^ M. Heydari-Malayeri On the origin of the word ešq
  10. ^ Köprülü, Mehmet Fuat (2006). Early Mystics in Turkish Literature. Psychology Press. ISBN 0415366860.
  11. ^ Studies on the Soviet Union - 1971, Volume 11 - Page 71