A Study and Analysis of Motifs in Azeri Lullabies

Various studies have been conducted on lullabies, and the lullabies of different ethnic groups have been examined from different aspects, for example, the article "Lullaby, the oldest enchanting whisper of the mother" by Moghaddasi (2013) which deals with the structure and topic of lullabies. The article "Lullaby, the music of woman’s role in the transmission of oral culture" by Vodjani (2004) which refers to the role of woman in the transmission of oral culture. "Investigation of lullabies between three folks of Azari, Kurdish and Gilak" by Haghgou (2013) examines and compares the theme of lullabies among these ethnic groups. In the article "Taking a Look at the origin and themes of Iranian lullabies" by Hasanli (1999) investigates at lullabies as one of the poetic types of children's literature. The article "Motifs in Sabzevari lullabies" by Vahdanifar and Davari (2021) specifies the way of motif formation in Sabzevari lullabies, and introduces the most common motifs used. Studying the background of the research shows that researchers have often collected and categorized lullabies in different dialects and geographical regions, but so far there has been no independent research on Azari lullabies and analysis of their themes and motifs.Research goal and questionsThe present study focuses on the necessity of paying attention to popular literature, especially Azari lullabies, and while protecting this treasure, it examines and analyzes the motifs in the lullabies in order to make the reader more familiar with the cultural, economic and social attitudes and beliefs, religious identity and customs of the people of the region. In this research, we seek to answer these questions:1. What is a motif?2. How are motifs formed in the investigated lullabies?3. What are the most common motifs used in these lullabies?

Lullabies are one of the branches of folk literature and the first songs for children, which are included under the children's literature category in terms of dealing with children. Although the original composers of the lullabies are unknown, the simplicity of the language and the practicality of the lullabies among people is one of the secrets of the durability of these beautiful verses. The themes of lullabies are echoes of thoughts and spiritual reflections, social and political concerns, individual and collective emotions and desires that can be affected by the geographical, cultural, social, and political conditions of the society. In this research, an attempt has been made to analyze 120 common Azeri lullabies using the descriptive-analytical method. The aim was to introduce the lullabies of these people, to reflect on their inner reflections, individual and social emotions, religious thoughts, and social and cultural conditions of the mothers of that time. We divided the lullabies into five categories based on the theme: religious motifs, nature motifs, maternal wishes and threatening their child's enemy’s motifs, cultural and social motifs, and family and relative motifs. Among these motifs, the motif of nature with 42 items and the motif of maternal wishes with 28 items had the highest frequency. The results of the research show that the composers of the lullabies have used various motifs to enrich their lullabies’ themes and without knowing and analyzing these themes, it is not possible to know the main concerns of the concepts of these lullabies."A motif is a word, a sentence, a state, an image or an idea that is repeated in a literary work and plays a special role" (Zeitouni, 2002, p. 69). Since every repetition is of interest in stylistics, the motif as an important repeated element in literature can also be considered for stylistic review and criticism. Motifs that the author is aware of repeating and uses as a literary skill to express an opinion and draw the reader's attention to a specific topic, enriching the creation of atmosphere, characterization, coherence and thematic dimension of his work, are called self-conscious motifs. However, motifs that originate from the individual and collective experiences of the author and appear and repeat in the works of the author or poet in a completely random manner without any preparation, are unconscious motifs. Since the human mind has two conscious and unconscious parts, depending on which part the motif is present in, it is considered a conscious or unconscious element (Dehghan et al. 2011, p. 93-4). While examining the motifs in the lullabies, we noticed that some motifs are repeated accidentally and unconsciously, without their composers having a specific meaning for these repetitions. But in many motifs, the repetitions are purposeful and their composers have consciously used the format of lullabies to impress the audience and promote their ideas and thoughts. In other words, it can be said that: "lullabies carry with them a kind of narrative trick from the perspective of the audience. Because in lullabies, the mother addresses her child, but what she says has nothing to do with the child, and these narratives are her or other mothers' wishes that have been institutionalized in the heart of popular speech" (Salajegheh, 2008, p. 424).

 As a part of the oral literature of the society, lullabies are derived from the mentality of the mass of people and indirectly convey various concepts to the mind of the listener. In the current research, we first investigated the formation of motifs in lullabies using the content analysis method, and then we identified frequent motifs in Azari lullabies and classified them. In this research, 120 Azari lullabies were examined and it was observed that in terms of motifs and recurring themes, Azari lullabies can be divided into five general categories: religious motifs, nature motif, cultural, political and social motifs, maternal wishes and family and divided relatives’ motifs. In examining the motifs, we notice that some of them are repeated accidentally and unconsciously, without their composers having a specific meaning for these repetitions. But in many cases, most of the motifs are purposeful works that their composers have consciously repeated to prove and promote their worldview and beliefs to the readers. Deep thinking about the content of the lullabies shows that most of the lullabies have common features despite the geographical and dialectal differences, among them simplicity and fluency, collective character, imagination, similarity of theme, consecration of beauty and goodness, etc. can be mentioned. Mothers convey their emotions and feelings to the audience through lullabies in the form of simple motifs, and this simplicity of expression makes the audience interested and therefore, the motifs have a greater effect on them.