Kenje Kara
Kyrgyz poet
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Kenje Kara (1859–1929) was a Kyrgyz epic singer. He is notable for being the first Kyrgyz-language artist, and the first manaschi, to be recorded.
1903/4 Recording
In 1903/4, a Russian expedition party led by Aleksandr G. Belinskii made six wax photograph cylinders, around 17 minutes in length, of Kenje Kara improvising a narrative concerning Manas's son Semetey and his love-interest Ayčürök.[1] The atypical context - recording in a colonial police station in front of an audience unfamiliar with the Kyrgyz language and Kyrgyz oral culture - meant the recording captures 'the work of a good bard on a bad day.'[2]
An account of Kenje Kara's performance was published in 1914 by the expedition's artist Boris Smirnov.[3] Smirnov's portrait of Kenje Kara included in the book is significant for being the first known illustration of a named Kyrgyz epic singer.[4] Smirnov's volume also contained a summary of the narrative (that differed from the recording) made by the expeditions translator, the Kazakh Atey-bek. The products of this performance 'testify to misunderstandings between the performer and the audience'.[5]
Later life
Kenje Kara later performed a lament at the memorial feast of the Sarbagis chieftain Sabdan Jantay,[6] who had formerly been the subject of poems by Musa Chaghatay uulu.
The Cylinders and their posthumous Reception
The cylinders languished for decades in the Russian Academy of Sciences. A text was transcribed, and later published with an English translation and musical score, along with additional material, by Daniel Prior in 2006.[7] Kenje Kara's short recorded performance has been used by scholars to understand imaginary Kyrgyz geographies concerning Mount Qaf[8] and as a comparative example of a poetic simile.[9]