The role of spiritual leader, zhyrau, in harmonization of nomadic society of the 15th-18th centuries

Abstract

Cultural Studies Science as a comprehensive science about human being and human development gets to a new level of its understanding in the 21st century. It is connected with the attempt of representatives of different ethnic groups to explore its initial cultural frameworks in detail, to save specific features, national identity and its historical memory in the period of general globalization. This article is devoted to the theme of harmony, essence, forms and its functioning in Turkic nomadic epic environment of the 15th-18thcenturies. Harmony is the most important aesthetical category, characterizing benefit value, beauty and things reasonability and social phenomena in its systematical order, proportion and balance of opposites (binary).The epic singer, zhyrau,was the bright example of harmony carrier in Kazakh nomadic Middle Ages (the 15th-18th centuries). The singer created not only epic and lyrico-epic works, but he also was the leader of khan council, khan’s adviser, commander, diplomat. He divided nomad camps between tribes. War and peace,whole annual order of living of nomadic society depended on this central figure. The central theme of the article is the role of spiritual leader, zhyrau, in social harmonization of nomadic society.
Key words: harmony, agon, specificity, structure, functions, spiritual leader, zhyrau, social harmony, social harmonization principle,military-and-nomadic democracy, syncretic art, batyrs, biys, akyns.