Paper long abstract:

"Ashik-Kerib," a text composed during Lermontov's exile to the Trans-Caucasus, has mostly been analyzed in terms of the tale's sources, be they Azerbaijani, Armenian, or Georgian. This approach has distracted from questions about the tale's meaning and its place within Lermontov's work without necessarily furthering knowledge about the tradition(s) of the region from which it is taken. A case in point is Ashik-Kerib's encounter with Khidr-Ilyas (a name Lermontov translates parenthetically as "St. George"), which, while constituting one of the most detailed descriptions of an action in Lermontov's "Turkish Fairytale" as well as the subject of the only songs of Kerib that Lermontov records, has thus far received little scholarly attention. Drawing on the earliest recording of the Azerbaijani dastan as well as Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Georgian scholarship surrounding the tale, I argue that the analysis of this episode is central to understanding Lermontov's intention in writing Ashik-Kerib; it speaks to the nature of poetry as Lermontov understood it, drawing a link between poetic and prophetic inspiration. Furthermore, it is crucial to interpreting the status of the text itself, since it is ultimately uncertain who translated this portion of the text: Lermontov, a local tradition/translator, or some combination of these. I will elaborate of the problem of the relationship between translation and poetic creation through reference to Sergei Paradjanov's version of Lermontov's tale, Ashik-Kerib.