Review of Ilseyar Zakirova’s book “Awal bashlap ni bette” (“The Beginning of Time”) (Kazan, 2017. 152 p.)

Abstract

The article reviews the structure of Ilseyar Zakirova’s book “Awal bashlap ni bette” (“The Beginning of Time”) (2017) and its place in the spiritual and cultural life of the Tatar people. The book shows the connection of myths that arose in the most ancient periods of mankind and individual phenomena of oral folk art with philosophical, religious teachings and aesthetic systems. The review evaluates the author’s philosophical and aesthetic analysis of the Turks and Tatars’ myths, legends and ancient beliefs, their connection with the world outlook and their reflection of the first world perceptions. The article describes such genres of folklore as dedication and ovation as a novelty of the book. It is for the first time that examples from folklore, collected by the author during the expedition to different regions where the Tatars live, have been introduced into the scientific circulation.