9
The ballad
Textbook: p. 38
GoalKnow the features of the ballad genre.
New words
ballad · balladahistorical-heroic · tarixiy-qahramonlikplot · syujetemotion · his-hayajon
Explanation
The word “ballad” is French and means a “dance song”. It is a short poem in which an event is told and the poet adds his own feelings. So the ballad joins features of epic and lyric. Uzbek poets have mostly written ballads on past events and on legendary-fantastic and heroic themes. “Mardlik afsonasi” is an example of such a ballad.
Worked examples
Example: if a poem has only feeling, it is lyric; if it has both event and feeling, it is a ballad.
Example: in “Mardlik afsonasi” the event is To‘maris’s victory, the feeling is the author’s love and hatred.
Class activity
Recall a work you know that is like a ballad and name its event and feeling.
Practice
1
From which language does “ballad” come and what does it mean?
From French; “dance song”.
2
What is combined in a ballad?
The telling of an event and the poet’s feeling.
3
On what themes are Uzbek ballads often?
Mostly on past events and on legendary-fantastic and heroic themes.
4
Why do we say the ballad joins epic and lyric?
Because it has both an event (epic) and the poet’s feeling (lyric).