HISTORICAL TALES AS PROTOTEXT OF "ANCIENT POEM OF KARCHA" BY MAGOMED KHABICHEV
The article discusses thematically marked historical-ethnographic and folklore-mytholog-ical material, which has become a prototext for the lyric-epic poem «Karcha» by a karachay scientist, poet-folklorist M. Khabichev (1930-1993). In the work, covering the time interval from the end of the XIV-th century (the invasion of Lame Timur on the North Caucasus) to the XVIII-th century (the Age of Enlightenment), the main hero Karcha is presented as a transhis-torical character, whose bold social-political projects to consolidate a disparate ethnic group and attain national independence are realized through the activities of his descendant with a similar archetypical name. Such a nominological constant is due to the ethnocultural tradition at the extreme moments of national life to appeal to the key epic hero, to cultivate his name as a symbol of basic values. In the poem of M. Khabichev the elder Karcha and the younger Karcha are connected not only by blood-related ties, but also by common humanistic ideas of establishing peace in the North Caucasus and the entire planet. An important place in the article is given to decoding of key images, in particular, the «pillow with oregano», symbolizing man’s devotion to his Homeland.