TRANSLATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF SACRED TEXTS OF ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY INTO TURKIC LANGUAGES IN BASHKIRIA IN THE 19th CENTURY: A GENERAL OVERVIEW

Abstract

The purpose of the article is a comparative analysis of two interpretations of one seventh of the Koran in the Old Turkic literary language (Ural-Volga Turks) and the translation of the Fourth Gospel into Bashkir, carried out in Bashkiria in the 19th century. A comparative analysis of the three named works is carried out by analyzing the historical circumstances of their writing and publication, their functional purpose, genre nature and stylistic characteristics. Interpretations to the one seventh part of the Koran, made by Bahadirshah al-Kaynawi and Tajj al-Din al-Ishtaki, develop the tradition of word-by-word commentaries on the Koran. However, they implement different strategies for interpreting the sacred text – utilitarian and didactic. The translation into Bashkir of the Four Gospels is based on the idea of the expressiveness of sacred content in any language and does not contain a commenting component proper. The theological positions of translators have found expression in the choice of linguistic means of translation. A comparative analysis of the two Muslim exegetical works and one translation of the sacred text of Christianity shows that their authors adhered to different approaches to the interpretation of the sacred text, and these approaches do not coincide with confessional ones. The Muslim tradition of interpreting sacred texts in the region was multi-variant and dynamic. The Christian approach to translation put into practice the ideas of N.I. Ilminsky and provided for the participation in the perception of the sacred text not only of the reader, but also of the preacher.

Keywords

• bashkir language
• koranic exegesis
• bible translation
• tafsir
• the language of the turks of the ural-volga region
• the languages of the peoples of russia.