Ashïk Kerib: menestrelli sul limes.

Abstract

A love-story between a young minstrel and a rich girl from Tiflis, with no hope of a swift happy ending because of their different social background, becomes a metaphor of life itself in the Ashïk Kerib. This is a well-known tale in popular Turk-Azerbaydjanian literature, famously brought to the screen by Paradjanov. This tale is especially interesting as a case-study on the porous boundaries between Persian and Turkish Ottoman worlds, focusing of the role played in the events by the enigmatic figure of Khiḍr and the references to the general musical context