Abstract:

Within the context of proverbs, this study presents a discussion of Tatars and Russians, who lived together for many years and, in some cases, still do. Mongolians and Turks who are called Tatars and who constitute a part of the Mongolian army, encountered the Russians in many ways, either positively or negatively, and lived in the same or nearby regions. Today, the descendants of these old societies (Slavic and Turkish tribes and peoples) who used to live in the same region now mainly live together in Asia and Europe. As a result of these relations, there was a cultural interaction between the two communities and this interaction is still reflected in their languages. While the friendships between these societies naturally left positive marks on the language, hostilities brought negative thinking and humiliation. These (positive and negative) structures, which have a place in the language, have been preserved in proverbs and transferred from generation to generation as solid language materials. Thanks to these words, the Russians deliberately conveyed their cultural knowledge and thoughts about life to future generations. In this study, 43 proverbs containing the name “Tatar” were identified by searching dictionaries published on Russian proverbs. The proverbs thus identified were classified according to their subjects and Turkish translations and explanations were made. Also, in Turkic dialects (Kazakh, Kazan-Tatar) proverbs containing the Russian name were dealt with in the context of the relationship between societies. In this context, it was seen that the positive or negative thoughts found in the proverbs are mutual. The name of Tatar in Russian proverbs was generally perceived to be negative. For example, the following words were found to describe Tatars: bad, angry, gluttonous, thief, outwardly sloppy, ugly, poor, racist, noncompliant, murderer, useless etc. In Kazakh and Kazan-Tatar Turkic proverbs, the main concept of “No trust of Russian People” was found reflected therein.

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