‘Kitabi-Dede Gorgud’ epic being translated into Korean

The renowned epic "Kitabi-Dede Gorgud" (“Book of Dede Gorgud”) is currently being translated into Korean, President of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), Academician Isa Habibbayli said, according to Report.

Habibbayli shared this insight at the international scientific conference themed "Epic Culture of the Peoples of the CIS Countries: Traditions and Challenges," held at the ANAS Presidium.

He explained that South Korean specialists are actively working on the translation.

Habibbayli also mentioned that several years ago, the Pakistan Academy of Literature translated the "Kitabi-Dede Gorgud" into Urdu and held an extensive presentation of the work.

The “Kitabi-Dede Gorgud” (“Book of Dede Gorgud”) is the most famous among the epics of the Oguz Turks. The epics carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic Turkic peoples and their pre-Islamic beliefs. The book’s mythic narrative is a part of the cultural heritage of Turkic countries, including Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and to a lesser degree Kyrgyzstan.

The epic “Kitabi-Dede Gorgud” consisting of introduction and twelve chapters (stories/songs) are some of the best-known Turkic dastans from among a total of well over 1,000 recorded epics among the Mongolian and Turkic language families.