【亚洲•吉尔吉斯斯坦】吉尔吉斯史诗弹唱阿肯艺术 The Art of Akyns，Kyrgyz Epic Tellers (2008年)

吉尔吉斯斯坦位于中亚天山山脉的核心地带，有着恢宏的自然景观和古老的游牧传统。史诗吟唱是吉尔吉斯游牧民族最重要的文化表现形式，几个世纪以来，经过艺人的口传心授，一直保留至今。史诗吟唱是一门把歌唱、表演、即兴发挥和作曲结合在一起的艺术。这种表演一般是在宗教节日、私人喜庆、节令典礼或国家节日期间举行。这一传统在当今吉尔吉斯斯坦的北部和南部最为活跃。
　　吉尔吉斯史诗的独特之处，在于其跌宕起伏的故事情节和蕴含的哲学思想，它又是一部有着社会、文化和历史价值的口传百科全书。其中最著名的是有1000年历史的《马纳斯》三部曲，即《马纳斯》、《塞米提》和《塞特克》。这部杰作之所以著名，不仅因其长度是《荷马史诗》中的《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》的16倍，还因其内容丰富。它以事实和传奇相互融合的手法，把吉尔吉斯斯坦九世纪以来最有影响的动荡历史记载了下来。此外，尚存的还有40多部 “较短”的史诗，《马纳斯》以单人说书为主，用一种吉尔吉斯斯坦的三弦琵琶伴奏。每一部史诗都有其独特的主题、韵律和吟唱风格。表演说唱的行吟艺人叫阿肯，经常参加讲书比赛，他们曾是极受尊重的。他们富有表现力的动作和声调、生动的模仿，同史诗的情感丰富的内容交相辉映，深受人们喜爱。在20世纪20年代，由著名吟唱艺人萨金贝吟唱的《马纳斯》三部曲中的第一部分曾被以文字形式记录下来。在苏维埃政权时期，尽管政府禁止一些“较短”史诗的演唱，吟唱艺人们还在继续他们的表演。

Kyrgyzstan, located in the core of the Tianshan Mountains in Central Asia, has a magnificent natural landscape and an ancient nomadic tradition. Epic singing is the most important form of cultural expression of the nomadic people in Kyrgyzstan. For centuries, it has been retained until now through oral instruction by artists. Epic singing is an art that combines singing, performance, improvisation and composition. Such performances are usually held during religious festivals, private festivals, festival ceremonies or national festivals. This tradition is most active in the north and south of Kyrgyzstan today.

The unique feature of Kyrgyz epic lies in its ups and downs of story plots and philosophical ideas. It is also an oral Encyclopedia with social, cultural and historical values. One of the most famous is the 1,000-year-old trilogy of Manas, namely Manas, Semiti and Setak. This masterpiece is famous not only for its length 16 times that of Iliad and Odyssey in Homer's Epic, but also for its rich content. It records the most influential turbulent history of Kyrgyzstan since the ninth century by integrating facts and legends. In addition, there are still more than 40 "shorter" epics, "Manas" is mainly written by a single person, accompanied by a three-stringed Pipa in Kyrgyzstan. Each epic has its unique theme, rhythm and singing style. The singing artist, Akan, often participated in lecture competitions, and they were highly respected. Their expressive actions and tones, vivid imitation, and rich emotional content of the epic, are deeply loved by people. In the 1920s, the first part of the trilogy Manas, sung by the famous singing artist Sakimbe, was recorded in written form. During the Soviet regime, singers continued their performances despite the government's ban on the singing of "shorter" epics.