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For additional information on adopting this title for your class, please contact us at 800.200.3908 x501 or [email protected] The Stories of the Great Steppe

The Anthology of Modern Kazakh Literature

First Edition

Edited by Dr. Rafi s Abazov Columbia University

Translated by Sergio Levchin and Ilya Bernshtein Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher Christopher Foster, General Vice President Michael Simpson, Vice President of Acquisitions Jessica Knott, Managing Editor Kevin Fahey, Cognella Marketing Manager Jess Busch, Senior Graphic Designer Melissa Barcomb, Acquisitions Editor Sarah Wheeler, Senior Project Editor Stephanie Sandler, Licensing Associate

Copyright © 2013 by Cognella, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereaft er invented, including photocopying, microfi lming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of Cognella, Inc.

First published in the United States of America in 2013 by Cognella, Inc.

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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-62131-837-8 (pbk) Recent Praise for The Stories of the Great Steppe

“Th e anthology edited by Professor Rafi s Abazov appeals to all students and professionals alike off ering a very readable and a well-thought out collection of the best literary works from Kazakhstan. Th is is an engaging text where readers travel intellectually and literary to the Kazakh land and are richly rewarded for their journey.” Prof. Robert J. Guttman Johns Hopkins University

“Stories of the Great Steppe is an important milestone in the building of a post-Soviet Kazakh national identity. Th e anthology of prose and poetry from Kazakh authors of the Soviet and post-Soviet era draws from deep levels of the Kazakh psyche. Th is remarkable collection of writings, ably selected by Columbia University professor, Rafi s Abazov, conveys to the Western reader a palpable sense of how the Kazakh peoples were shaped and sculpted by the expansive geography of the steppes, whether living on it as a common horse rustler or dreaming of those who soared over it (Yuri Gagarin), but inevitably returning to it. Astute foreign investors will search for a key that opens their eyes to understanding what makes a diff erent society tick. American business people will do well to peruse the pages of this volume and unlock the new vistas it holds for those who wish to build lasting relationships in this increasingly important land.” William Veale, Executive Director U.S.–Kazakhstan Business Association

“Th rough its broad-ranging selections of post-World War II prose and poetry, this anthology opens up to readers of English a new world of literature from Central Asia’s multilingual and multicultural land of Kazakhstan. Abazov’s critical introductory essay summarizes the breadth and depth of subject-matters and cultural infl uences in the literary traditions from which these very appealing selections derive. Th e glossary and bibliography add to the book’s usefulness for courses on Eurasian culture and the culture of Kazakhstan in particular. Th e works presented defy any stereotype of simplicity, or of Kazakhstan’s secondary, provincial status within a broader Soviet literary system. We fi nd here amidst expected infl uences such as Socialist Realism deeply diff ering perspectives, sometimes seeming to reference a unique or highly localized Kazakh cultural milieu, and at other times presenting varied Kazakh images of heroism, of tradition and modernity, of social justice and its opposite, within a fully global context. Th is selection of Kazakhstan’s remarkable output of twentieth-century literature will be of great interest to social and art historians as well as those interested in literature. Surely all readers will appreciate the rich and revealing narratives found here.” Paul Michael Taylor, Ph.D., Director, Asian Cultural History Program, Smithsonian Institution Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix By Dr. Rafi s Abazov

Foreword xiii By Ambassador Erlan Idrissov

Foreword: Kazakh Literature and Modernity xvii By Ualikhan Kalizhanov

Introduction 1 By Dr. Rafi s Abazov

PART I: PROSE

An Ethnographic Tale 11 By Gabit Musrepov

Ballad of Years Long Past (excerpt) 19 By Abish Kekilbaev

The Old and the Young 27

A Day in July 32

At the Edge 34 By Didar Amantay

The Day the World Collapsed (excerpt) 37 By Rollan Seisenbaev

Kamshiger (excerpt) 45 By Oralhan Bokeev

Reason’s Ardent Struggle (excerpt) 55 By Tulen Abdikov

The Hound’s Death (excerpt) 67 By Muhtar Magauin PART II: POETRY

Earth, Hail Man 77 By Olzhas Suleimenov

Words Spoken Over a Cradle 91 The Sentinel 91 Live Until Sixty 92 I just love the wondrous, ordinary old men... 92 The Trail 93 After Work 93 Youth 94 A Lovers’ Dialog 94 Should I Write Verses 94 My heart brims with buried treasure... 95 My Thirty-Fifth Spring 95 A Ruined House 96 February, 1941 97 My Love Is in Me 97 You 98 By Mukagali Makataev

The Curse of Korkut (excerpt of a verse drama) 99 By Iran-Gaiyp

Meditations at Medeu 107 Visions of Northern Palmyra 109 By Fariza Ongarsynova

Intervene! 111 Let’s Get Acquainted, Time! 112 My Law 113 The Face of the Steppe 113 Our Battle Cry 114 My Autograph 114 Man’s Worth 115 To Abay, or on Comparisons 116 Idyll 117 A Meeting with the Future 118 By Zharaskan Abdrashev, translated by Ilya Bernshtein Time of Silence 119 The Mozer Clock 120 A Story 120 And Through 121 The Part Played 122 The Museum. A Lamp 122 Among the Leaves 123 Ostankino 123 Almaty, Kazakhstan 124 The Valley 124 The Tourist Trip 125 The Song of the Vagabond 126 Somnabulic Sonnet 127 To the Master 128 On the Melody of My Childish Books 129 By Bakhytzhan Kanapianov

The Steppe and the Mountain 131 Time 132 Everything in this world is eternal … 132 There is no limit to grief … 133 Proposal 133 He stood, leaning on crutches … 134 Nest on the Balcony 135 Steeds of the Steppe 136 What in this eternal world is not a riddle … 136 Home 137 Song 138 Between morning and evening … 138 By Shomishbay Sariyev, translated by Ilya Bernshtein

Afterword 141 By Naomi Caffee

Glossary 143

Bibliography 145 Foreword

By Ambassador Erlan Idrissov

s an ambassador of the Republic of only a relatively small number of these works A Kazakhstan, I strongly believe that our have made it into the collection. writers and poets are my colleagues—they Th e pieces selected for this Anthology were are the greatest cultural ambassadors for my created by the most talented poets and writers in country. With their poems, stories, and novels Kazakhstan in the post-World War Two period they contribute to citizens’ diplomacy: building and refl ect one of the most decisive pages of the bridges between ordinary people in a greater history of my native land. It was the era of the understanding of everyday life, culture, and 1950s and 60s, when the young generation of thought; adding to discourses on a wide variety our citizens believed in the unlimited power of of issues; deciding what is relevant to our society progress, modernization, and technology, and it yesterday, today, and tomorrow; and building a was they who built the foundations of the modern better understanding of the place of Kazakhstan Kazakh economy and state. One example will serve in the modern world. to illustrate the contrasts and changes in Kazakh Th erefore, it is my great pleasure today to society during that era: just imagine—hundreds introduce the fi rst ever publication in the USA of of young Kazakhs travelled on horses and camels an anthology of modern Kazakh literature. Th ese to a remote area in southern Kazakhstan to build stories and poems have been carefully selected the technological marvel of the twentieth century, by the editor with help from leading scholars the Baikonur Space Center. In the open desert, in Kazakhstan, including the Mukhtar Auezov where only the wild wind and cold moonlight had Institute of Literature and Art, the Mukhtar commanded the sand dunes and rocky hills for Auezov Foundation, and Al Farabi Kazakh millennia, those young people together with their National University. Th rough a series of discus- colleagues from all over the world built a modern sions and meetings they have brought together space station. Th is space station—the largest on a comprehensive overview of modern Kazakh Earth during the twentieth century—sent more literature since World War Two. Of course, the spaceships to the sky than any other station in the Kazakh literature of this seventy-year period is world. Admiration of the power of human intellect much richer than even a thousand such volumes and progress was refl ected in Olzhas Suleimenov’s could accommodate, and it is represented by poems of that era, and in Suleimenov’s words “… hundreds if not thousands of interesting and ignited the fi re of your youth.” intellectually stimulating works. Unfortunately,

xiii xiv | The Stories of the Great Steppe

Th e life of Kazakh society during the fi rst and in literary ways they expressed their thoughts decades in the post-WWII era, however, was also and dreams on societal ideals, searching for the full of social contrasts and social changes. On sev- golden centuries of Kazakh society in our history. eral occasions in reading western scholarly works Our writers and poets made a signifi cant con- I have come across a simplifi ed account of life in tribution to the perestroika and glasnost debates our society during that time, an overly simplistic of the 1980s. Th ey strongly believed that the portrayal fl attening the lives of our people under society and the nation were moving into a new single ideological slogans. In reality, the life of era and therefore required fresh ideas and ap- Kazakh society, as in many neighboring states, proaches. Th ey discovered that there were some was much richer and more complex. People had pages in our history of which we had not been developed their own ideas and thoughts about the fully aware, and that our politicians had made social and cultural changes and about political some mistakes—and began openly writing about development, and hotly debated them in small it. circles or intellectual and literary clubs. Th ese We wished that our borders would fi nally be lively discourses were well refl ected in several opened for free movement of people and cultures. stories and poems selected for this Anthology. Th is was a prolifi c era for journalists and writ- Like people in all other societies around ers. In our traditional culture when people want to the world, rebellious youth and intellectuals in search for answers to the most diffi cult questions Kazakhstan fi ercely debated many issues, from and challenges, they turned not to politicians, but literary forms and trends to cultural and political to the intellectuals—bards, poets, and writers. issues, and from the interactions of traditional Th erefore, the intellectual life in Kazakhstan in nomadic values with the forces of modernity and the 1980s was fi lled with an explosion of debates globalization to the meaning of modernism and and discourses on various issues, oft en conducted post-modernism in the local Central Asian con- in the literary circles and using literature forms. text. I know from my American colleagues how Like in many other countries during this period of intensive were the discourses in the American changes, our bards, poets, and writers went out to society and literary world in the 1960s and 70s, talk to the people, oft en on improvised podiums and I am confi dent to claim that similar trends in factories, parks, halls, and even on the street to and intensity of exchanges could be seen in the read their latest poems and essays before excited intellectual circles in my country. Of course, the citizens. culture and political system and political envi- Th e peaceful declaration of independence in ronment had a signifi cant impact on the ways in 1991 made Kazakhstan an independent nation which our intellectuals—journalists, scholars, and state and full member of the United Nations and writers—managed to present or hide in Aesopian facilitated the establishment of diplomatic rela- language their thoughts and ideas. But it is inevi- tions with the USA and other countries. It was table in all corners of the world that the historical, one of the most remarkable events in our recent economic, and political environment asserts its history and was enthusiastically cheered by our own infl uence on modern discourses. Th ough, citizens. Following Kazakhstan’s independence in I have to say that in our country in those days 1991, our society opened its doors for the forces of the cost of free alternative views and expressions globalization and postmodern multiculturalism. was sometimes quite high—punishment for free Today, the Kazakh national literature is striving thinking in Soviet society could be quite severe. for and integrating the best from the re-thinking Some writers did indeed become conformists. of and interaction with the emerging global and Yet, the fact that even in this restrictive environ- national cultures. Extremely rich and lively liter- ment our intellectuals were brave enough to fi nd ary life in major urban centers in Kazakhstan, with ways to express their thoughts is admirable. Not numerous literary clubs and circles, is a produc- all people agreed with the changes around them, tive and fertile ground for emerging new talents Foreword | xv and young intellectuals. Th ey depict the changes anything else help people from all over the world around them in beautiful poetry and prose, repre- to understand modern Kazakh culture and learn senting the unique corner of the global world that about Kazakhstan. we called our home—Kazakhstan. Kazakhs have a beautiful proverb: “Words of Th e concept of curiosity and love for explor- a true akyn [poet] can warm you better than the ing other cultures is deeply rooted in Kazakh sun.” I hope that this Anthology of Kazakh litera- society; at the same time, we love to share our ture will warm the hearts of its readers. culture and talk about it in creative and artistic ways. Th erefore, it is a great honor and pleasure Erlan Idrissov for me, as a representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to introduce the fi rst-ever major Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary English-language Anthology of modern Kazakh of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United literature published in the United States. I not States. He was appointed as the Foreign Minister only hope, but also I strongly believe, that these of Kazakhstan on September 28, 2012. samples of Kazakh literature will better than Foreword Kazakh Literature and Modernity КАЗАХСКАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА И СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ

By Ualikhan Kalizhanov Director of Mukhtar Auezov Institute of Literature and Art

azakh literature is an organic part of years the works of repressed writers and previ- K world culture. Our literature is a mirror ously unpublished examples of folklore have been of our culture and our society, and occupies an widely printed. important place in the intellectual discourse in Independence has opened up new horizons, our country. In adapting to the new social and creating optimal conditions for the development cultural reality, Kazakh literature strengthens of the literary process and for identifying the role its contacts with the literatures of the West and and importance of literature in the development the East. Trends in the literary world of today of a modern national identity. Th e epochal nature include creating an atmosphere of genuine free- of the events of modern history has endowed our dom of creativity, overcoming rigid sociological national literature with a new face and new fea- descriptiveness, discussing previously taboo tures, clearly demonstrated in the intensity of the topics (national theme/reinterpreting the real development of literature in the country today. history of the country) and diff erent ideological Contemporary Kazakh literature is character- and aesthetic concepts. Contemporary writers ized by its variety of themes, relaxed manner of can portray reality in all its complexity within writing, and stylistic richness. Diffi cult situations, this broadened creative scope. Kazakh literature spiritual and moral quests, individual resistance continues the classical traditions of the past and to political and ideological pressures, and the takes them to a new level, signifi cantly expanding problems of the Kazakh village are the focus of the the boundaries of creative interpretations and greatest Kazakh artists of the word. Modernity as studies. a categorical phenomenon represents a paradigm At the initiative of President Nursultan shift , changing the entire structure of a work of Nazarbayev of the Republic of Kazakhstan we art. are successfully implementing the State program Alongside the modern theme, history remains “Cultural Heritage.” Th e program covers a num- a dominant theme in Kazakh literature. Each ber of important and wide-ranging measures to work of the greatest masters of artistic expression preserve, study, and promote the best examples is a special world that has been put together and of the artistic culture of the Kazakh people. Th e organized. It lives according to the laws of cre- underlying concept of the unique nature of the ativity. National writers do not fi t in well-defi ned project is the thesis that national literature is traditional boundaries of trends and literary important in forming national identity. In recent movements. Gabit Musrepov and his generation

xvii xviii | The Stories of the Great Steppe were a mirror of Kazakh literature of the twenti- Th e poets of Kazakhstan can be appreciated eth century and its rich artistic heritage. A great in the dimensions of their poetic and stylistic master of artistic expression, Musrepov headed a approach, melodic intonation, and rhythmic brilliant group of Kazakh writers and playwrights. features. Kazakh poetry is an interesting phenom- Th ey refl ected an era of great social change, and enon in terms of genre and stylistic originality embodied it in bright national characters created and conceptual and thematic content. A peculiar with an adept hand. aspect of the literary process of Kazakhstan is the An organic component of Kazakh prose is work of writers and poets who write in diff erent mythology. Th e popular culture, songs, legends, languages. Russian-language writers represent stories, and myths of the Kazakh people have a broad literary trend that emerged at the bor- stimulated interest in archaic and mythological der and the junction of the two cultures and motifs. Many authors have used this “mythology literatures. Th ese writers help to build “a bridge of world view” to reconstruct a picture of the past, between the two cultures and guide interaction” as if warning their contemporaries of rash deci- (Olzhas Suleimenov). Importantly, their work sions and actions. Lessons of the past should not represents a fundamental move beyond a single be forgotten. national culture and literature. Representatives of Novelists entice the modern reader with new Kazakh literature, such as poet and writer Olzhas interpretations of history, and new thinking about Suleimenov, are accepted as a part of modern the meaning of time. Modern authors oft en act as world culture. At the same time, the work of each researchers, leading independent forays in search of the national writers and poets creates a national of truth and re-conceptualizing the lessons of his- image of the world. Co-existence (in the words of tory. Th ese re-envisionings reveal new narrative Suleimenov) becomes the determining factor in possibilities and serve as the dominant criterion their prose, which depicts the evolution of the of ideological and structural organization of the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of the charac- Kazakh historical novel. ters, the intense inner life. It redefi nes aesthetic Modernism and postmodernism are most ideals, the revision of values against immutable tangible in Kazakh literature: the poetics of universal criteria. compromise, psychology, and drama; overcom- Th e era of integration and search for innova- ing spatial and temporal boundaries; search for tive solutions can be equated with realism in art, ideals; stylistic features as a manifestation of the in which is inherent a heightened attention to the intertext; changes in syntax; etc. Deepening the specifi c qualities of the individual, and the dia- psychology of modern Kazakh prose leads to lectic of the soul. Our literary artists increasingly expanding the boundaries of poetry and style, win the attention of society by creating realistic enriching and transforming narrative in the novel images of contemporary or historical fi gures, up- system. Internal monologues and dialogues, qua- dating and perfecting the concept of identity. si-direct speeches of characters, are increasingly Kazakh literature, in which the integration applied in the structures of novels and stories, in of a world-scale artistic process is obvious, is of an extroversion of feeling and thought. strategic importance for the sustainable adoption Psychological analysis enriches the content of of the national identity, intercultural dialogue, the Kazakh novel, realistically reproducing the and the strengthening of the spiritual image of dynamics of the development and improvement our country in the world. of the spiritual world of the people. Traditional Of course, not all the words of well-known visual forms incorporate new ways of creative Kazakh artists are included in this anthology. I thinking to explain the diversity of the Kazakh believe the time is coming when the American novel. reader will seek to know more about the literature of Kazakhstan and our cultural heritage. Introduction

By Dr. Rafi s Abazov

hen I talk to my students about the culture on modern Kazakh writers, poets, and journal- W of Central Asia I try to make engaging ists, and has therefore heavily infused Kazakh and enlightening comparisons. As I begin talking literature with ideologically motivated topics and about Central Asian culture I oft en tell them they themes. Th us, this school of literary criticism are about to discover things that are completely claims, contemporary Kazakh literature should new to them: they are about to open a window be viewed exclusively in the context of Soviet that looks out on a diff erent galaxy. Some of what literature. Little Kazakh literature was translated they see may seem familiar at fi rst glance—built, into the Western languages between the 1950s aft er all, on the same humanistic structures—but and the 1980s, with most of the translations and I always suggest that they stop for a moment to publications being the work of the “Progress” think and look more closely: beneath and inside Soviet Publishing House in Moscow. Even though familiar forms and shapes lies an immensely very few published works from Kazakhstan actu- diff erent experience. Contemporary literature ally had an ideological fl avor, mere association is a substantial and infi nitely revealing part of with the Soviet publishing house oft en led to the this distinctive universe. Indeed, this is a unique perception of their being ideologically motivated. universe of people who lived in the never ending Th erefore, scholars who study the literature of steppe for millennia and who built their world- the Eurasian region rarely focus on the Kazakh views by looking both at the beauty of the land literature of the post-World War Two period, where they put their yurts, nomadic felt tents, and very few research works fi nd their way to and by looking beyond horizons for new ideas the pages of Western academic journals. Th e and new opportunities. post-Soviet Kazakh literature also remains largely Th ere are diff erent and competing views on the terra incognita in the West, for scholars as for Kazakh literature of the post-World War Two era. the general public, as it is seldom made available One group stresses how it has developed under by Western publishing companies. Th ere is, of strong Russian and Soviet infl uence, pointing out course, a much larger body of research literature that it has incorporated and developed only the on this period, but very oft en this literary criti- major themes of the Russian and Soviet literary cism evolves around the same few topics, such as heritage and has followed the trend of Socialist re- national identity, nation-state building, and some alism. Social realism has been, according to these other aspects of the modern Kazakh literature. scholars, the overriding formational infl uence

1 2 | The Stories of the Great Steppe

Th e other group of literary critics calls for a and to deal—in their own ways—with the most more nuanced assessment of the literary produc- common themes of that era, thus contributing to tion of modern Kazakh writers. Th ey agree that intellectual discourses in their own home country during the Soviet era between the 1950s and 1980s and in their region. the popular culture, literature included, was heav- In approaching Kazakh modern literature, ily infl uenced by Soviet ideological perceptions, therefore, we ask many questions: how should censorship, and the social realism approach. Yet we describe the place of Kazakh literature in the they point out that, fi rstly, there were changes over literature of Eurasia and of the world? How does time. Th e “thaw” of the 1960s had a long-lasting Kazakh literature refl ect the intellectual discourses eff ect on subsequent generations of writers, poets, within Kazakh society, Eurasia, and the develop- and journalists who looked for inspiration not ing world? Did this literature refl ect the inspira- only in the West and Western and Russian cul- tions and frustrations of the post-World War Two ture, but also in the traditional culture of Central generation and the social and youth revolutions of Asia—not only in modernity and modernism, but the 1960s and 1970s in the same way as American also in traditionalist values of their own localities. and Western European literature? Or did it ignore Secondly, with the rise of national identity and these discourses and trends, developing its own national culture in the twentieth century more approaches and themes? For instance, did the Kazakh writers and poets have begun thinking writers and intellectuals of Kazakhstan use their and discussing and oft en calling to rediscover own cultural and artistic symbols to talk about the roots of modern Kazakh culture not only in universal themes and values? the “West” but also in the mystic “Orient.” Th ese Aft er raising those and many other questions “roots” could be found in the heritage of Turkic we need time for refl ection and discussion. Th is nomadic civilization with its unique perception is another diffi cult part—how can we generalize of mother nature and cosmology of nomads about modern Kazakh national literature, which manifested in the peculiar view of the power and consists of hundreds great writers, poets, and responsibility of the individual being connected journalists who left an extremely rich cultural to the commander of the circles of life (powerful heritage? How can we talk about all their con- Yer-Suu) and weaved whimsically with the in- cerns, values, and changes, and their relations fl uential thoughts of Sufi thinkers who preached with modernity and the modern globalizing in the Eurasian steppe for centuries. Th irdly, world? Th ese individuals have oft en used very the Kazakh intelligentsia, like those in Eastern diff erent symbols for expressing their ideas and and Central Europe, had grown accustomed to thoughts, against the backdrop of an ancient century-long cat and mouse games with the cen- nomadic civilization and from within the Central sors and the state bureaucrats. Like generations of Asian cultural universe. writers in Imperial Russia of the nineteenth cen- Th is introductory article is divided into three tury, they accepted the Procrustean bed of cen- sections. Th e fi rst section deals with the historical sorship, but they fi lled their works with allegories, and cultural background and the historical set- symbols, and surreptitious—and sometimes not ting, which greatly aff ected the development of so surreptitious—messages in order to get around modern Kazakh literature. Th e second section ex- the strict rules and restrictions and to express amines the major themes and issues common in their thoughts and ideas. Th ese critics, therefore, the Kazakh literature of the post-World War Two would have us avoid clichés and generalizations, period and discusses their links with discourses and carefully examine the rich and wonder- in the world literature. Th e third section assesses ful heritage of the Kazakh literature of this era. the transition to the post-Soviet era and looks at Aft er all, many writers, poets, and intellectuals some major emerging trends in Kazakh literature endeavored in their works to refl ect and discuss since Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991. the massive social changes and transformations Introduction | 3

Th e concluding section summarizes the major Another popular motif in the cultural symbol- fi ndings of this introductory article. ism of a nomad and nomadic life is the relation with nature. Here a human being is a part of the universe equal to all living creatures overlooked 1. Symbolism in Kazakh Literature and handled by the mother earth. However, s/he has one signifi cant feature: a human being has a Th e most important feature in traditional Kazakh power and ability to make a diff erence—it is in culture and art is the perception of the universe his power to make this world a better place or through the eyes of a nomad. In this view, no- worse. Yet a nomad is not entirely independent madism is not only way of life, but also a way of from the nature around him or her—the mother thinking about the world around us, about circles earth might and indeed would come aft er a no- of life, about the interactions with Mother Nature mad if s/he makes mistakes and destroys nature, and a never-ending movement of the human soul. especially animals around him. From this percep- Th e human soul, according to this view, should tion of the habitat and the world comes one of always search for perfect balance in both the real the interesting and quite common features in the world and imaginary philosophical constructions Kazakh literature—the ability of a person to talk of the world. to animals and trees or to simply to share his or If someone would like to distinguish and iden- her thoughts, emotions, worries, and happiness. tify the essence of Kazakh literature and a single At certain points in Kazakh literature, especially most important symbol of creative art among in the 1950s and 1960s, a large group of writers Kazakhs, the main character would be a nomad. and poets reinterpreted the traditional nomadic It is not necessarily for a nomad to travel relations with the mother earth and focused on physically around the world, although actual conquering mother earth and building a new travel between diff erent localities is an important technocratic society. In this technocratic society part of his nature. Sometimes s/he moves around people were free of “superstitions” and were us- in the thoughts and the movement consists of a ing new technologies (large factories) and new spiritual search for the meaning of life and one’s relations (brought together into collective farms place in this universe. Maybe this is one of the (kolkhoz)) to conquer mother earth and build reasons, refl ected in the Kazakh literature and modernity—a “modern” world for a nomad free manifested in many literary works, that Kazakh of restrictive relations with the mother earth. Yet literature oft en invents and focuses on these there always were groups of writers and poets travels and these explorations. One of the main who opposed those views and interpretations of characteristics of a nomad is his or her curiosity the life of a nomad. In their works they called and desire to explore both the locality and the for respecting and remembering the traditional universe around him or her. A nomad is inter- nomadic philosophy of life and reminded that ested in learning, traveling, experimenting, and mother earth would always come aft er them and exploring in an attempt to build these explored attempt to restore the balance (or in modern knowledge and feelings into his or her mosaic of language, eco-balance) by punishing those who the personal perception of the world around an destroyed nature. exploring nomad. Th is might be one of the main Th ese discourses and hot debates between reasons that characters both in prose and poetry “modernists” and “traditionalists” manifested in Kazakhstan are oft en on the move, both on the diff erent competing concepts of a nomad-hero. personal move in exploring themselves and their Both camps turned to a traditional motif in relations with the people and the world around nomadic culture and folklore—a motif of a hero, them and on the actual move—exploring new but reinterpreted and reinvented in very diff er- localities and meeting new places. ent ways. Both camps were engaged in building collective positive characters for the hero and 4 | The Stories of the Great Steppe borrowing ideas from competing camps to build of it, deeply conservative perceptions of family a character of an anti-hero. On one side of the values and interpersonal relations based on the ring was a hero who presented a power derived tribal notions of honor and honesty clashed with from modernity—logic, knowledge, and the abil- very diff erent notions of modern family, society, ity to control emotions and reject old traditions and social relations. And Kazakh intellectuals and “superstitions” and even to sacrifi ce his love have thought to discuss the impact of modernity for his cause. On the other side of the ring was at individual psychological levels, to explore fam- a traditional hero, oft en derived from traditional ily confl icts and the changing nature of social legends and from folklore. Like the authors of the relations between generations, refl ecting these classic heroic literature of Europe, the twentieth changes, challenges, and clashes in artistic ways. century “traditionalists” oft en romanticized a On the top of it, the post-World War Two era medieval knight or invented brave modern social was the era of the rise of mass literature and mass warrior—a person with superior personal values: readership. Very quickly—within a couple of de- honesty and bravery and devotion to his love. cades—Kazakh society turned from a society of Th e nomad-knight in Kazakh literature, like his mass illiteracy to one of the most reading nations counterparts in Western classic literature, is a in the world. manifestation and symbol of the highest quality Th e modern literature of the twentieth century in friendship and in building his personal rela- refl ected complex changes in Kazakh society.1 tions with loved ones, yet he is full of emotions It bridged the gap between the nomadic oral and superstitions that oft en lead him to make heritage and new literature, which experimented personal and social mistakes. with European models—“new” forms, especially Th is “traditionalist” school of Kazakh writ- in prose. Th e literary heritage of this era is an ers—both during the Soviet and during the post- intricate refl ection of these changes. Soviet era—turned for inspiration to the history of In general, Kazakh literature, like Central Kazakh land and Kazakh tribes, especially to the Asian Soviet-era literature, revolved around three history of the late middle ages and of the modern major themes—the revolt against old traditions era before the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. and prejudices, the search for and establishment of social justice, and an awakening of a new hero and rebel spirit in the ordinary person. Th ese themes 2. Kazakh Literature and were developed against a background of dramatic Modernity polarization wrought by the Bolshevik revolution in Kazakh society, and the extraordinary social, Th e focal point of modern Kazakh literature has cultural, and political changes instigated by the been the issue of modernity. Th e Kazakh intellec- Soviet system, which radically altered the lives of tuals have dealt with the rapidly changing would every person in the region. Th e Schwarzenegger around them, as the traditional slow-moving of Kazakh Soviet literature, however, was not of pre-industrial society has been rapidly changing a kind readily adaptable into today’s Hollywood around them in an uncatchable speed. Th ese “action-hero.” His main mission was to change changes have impacted not only everyday life, po- himself and people around him. His rebellion litical and social relations, but also culture, values, was against social injustice, traditional ways of special relations, and world views. life, rich and oppressive lords (bais), or restrictive And these complex changes led to intricate ancient rituals. Also, he challenged the age-old clashes between old and new, the values from the conception of family and personal honor and East and West, deeply localized community-based their associated codes of revenge and forgiveness. cultures and cultural perceptions with highly Th e social changes in the literary and intellec- internationalized and globalized perceptions of tual world in Kazakhstan made a huge impact on modernity and the modern world. On the top the development of the literature and criticism. Introduction | 5

Th e old social barriers were removed and many the powerful enemy who threatened the very talented individual from all kinds of back- existence of the society and the country. Th e suf- grounds—working class, peasants, ethnic and re- fering of ordinary people from hardship of the ligious minorities—received an opportunity and war era and the bravery of those tens of thousands oft en were encouraged to refl ect their personal of young people who fought thousands of miles experiences and the experiences of the people away stimulated the comparison with the past around them. Young Kazakh authors actively history of Kazakh society and the Kazakh steppe experimented in new genres, styles, and themes and interest in historical novels for many decades. by learning from classic Western and Russian Some Kazakh writers also turned to historical literature and poetry, as many of them translated issues, writing monumental historical novels. those works into local languages by themselves. Various dramatic and decisive pages from Kazakh All these changes signifi cantly undermined history were illustrated by Iliyas Esemberlin in infl uences of the classical Kazakh oral traditional the trilogy Koshpendiler (Nomads) and Altyn heritage, building favor for a completely new Orda (Golden Horde), by Mukhtar Auezov literary universe, though many poets and writers (1897–1961) in his monumental four-volume frequently turned to the classic Kazakh oral tradi- novel Abai and Abai Zholy (Th e Path of Abai), by tions for inspirations and themes. Abdizhamil Nurpeisov in the trilogy Kan men ter Yet creativity in the Soviet system had its lim- (Blood and Sweat), by Abish Kekilbayev in Abylai its. Th e Soviet system did not tolerate criticism Khan, by Saken Zhunisov in Akhan Sere and or deviation from the ruling party line. For many Amanai men Zamanai (Amanai and Zamanai), decades the government imposed a strait jacket of by Anuar Alimzhanov in Makhambettin zhebesi rules in the form of the “socialist realist approach (Th e Arrow of Makhambet), and by others. in literature.”2 Socialist realism stipulated “truth- Probably the most popular genre in Kazakh ful, historically concrete refl ection of reality in its literature has been short novels and short stories, revolutionary development.”3 as this format found mass readership through Like many Soviet writers of that era, Kazakh publications in literary newspapers, in cultural authors wrote about building the “new Soviet life” and literary magazines, and in small American- through the kolkhozes and industrial enterprises. style take-to-the-beach format inexpensive col- But what distinguished the Kazakh writers was lections of short stories. Th e best works of that that they dramatized and complicated these stock era focused on changing relationships in small themes by adding new local fl avor and out of the close-knit communities in remote areas. Th ey ordinary nuances, and they represented the cul- described how diffi culties and suff erings helped turally distinctive patriarchal ways of Kazakh life people to overcome family, tribal, and communal and religious backwardness as qualities in need of diff erences and relayed Romeo and Juliet-style modern redemption. A typical cliché in the writ- romantic stories about young people whose love ing of this period was the depiction of newcomers helped them to overcome the prejudice of old (oft en urban educated and modern) as people of social traditions, vendettas, or social and cultural superior moral and spiritual power who helped barriers. Importantly, during this era a new com- the infl uential local characters to abandon the old mon character emerged in Central Asian litera- (and “wrong”) ways of life and “discover” the irre- ture; this time he was a local hero returned home sistible power of the Soviet ideology and “culture.” to a small town or city—the Kazakh equivalent Between the 1950s and the 1990s the major of Alabama or Montana—bringing a whole new literary themes have been Soviet patriotism and universe with him or her aft er experiencing a World War Two (also called the Great Patriotic “new” life in a completely diff erent “real Soviet” War (1941–1945)). Th e war had a huge impact environment. on Kazakh society, as this war was depicted and Among the writers of short stories who perceived as a defense of the motherland from won huge followings and commanded large 6 | The Stories of the Great Steppe audiences were Gabit Musrepov (1902–1985), positions with the Union of Writers. He became with his short stories and essays with picturesque one of the most infl uential writers in Kazakhstan depiction of the life in Kazakh auils (villages); in the 1980s. His active public life in the 1980s Abish Kekilbayev (1939- ), who mastered roman- won him a reputation as the “voice of the Kazakh ticizing the Kazakh steppe; Rollan Seisenbayev intelligentsia”: (1946- ) who produced interesting short stories about the youth; Oralkhan Bokeev (1943–1993), A word—[is] a leisurely refl ection of a who idealized the simple life of people living human deed. in the countryside and the beauty of Kazakh Th e height, depth and colors are begot nature; Tulen Abdikov (1942- ), who mastered by the tongue. short stories and novels about people and nature; Refl ected in the words are a sip, Mukhtar Magauin (1940- ), whose short stories And a strike of a blow, attracted attention by depicting the relations And a smile, between people and natural world; and Muagali A sound of hooves through the aeon, Makatayev (1931–1976), whose poems attracted And incline of a weighed-down vine.6 attention by depicting and romanticizing simple life in Kazakh auil. In the 1970s and 1980s mainstream writers Th e life of Olzhas Suleimenov—Kazakh poet, continued to explore the crucial social issues writer, and intellectual—is a good example. surrounding the development of Soviet society. Olzhas Suleimenov (1936- ). While a student During this time Central Asian literature was at Kazakh State University he began to write more in line with popular Soviet themes, as many poetry. In 1958–1959 he attended the Gorky writers depicted the life of large collectives, where Literary Institute (Moscow). In 1959 he published innovators and enthusiasts struggled against op- his fi rst collection of poems in Moscow. From portunists and conservatives. Yet some Central 1961 to 1975 he worked variously as a journalist, Asian writers ventured away from propaganda and an editor of the literary journal Prostor, an editor the Socialist Realism theme and began exploring at the studios of Kazakh-fi lm, and in administra- such forbidden issues as the rise of nationalism or tion for the Kazakh Union of Writers. His poem anti-colonial struggles, or they simply revised and Zemlia poklonis cheloveku (Th e Globe bow to a even challenged state-impose dogmas and ideas, man!) (1961) brought him wide recognition. In especially offi cial Russia-centric interpretations 1975 Suleimenov published his book Az-i-ia,4 a of history and cultural development. For example, historical-philosophical essay on Turkic historical Kazakh poet Olzhas Sulemenov, in his book Az- destiny.5 In it he explored the history of the in- i-ia, turned to the traditional issues—the history teraction between nomads (Turks) and settlers of nomadic steppe—radically departing from the (Slavs) and the place of the Kazakhs in the his- ruling party-approved interpretation of the con- torical development of Eurasia. Th e publication fl icts of those periods and paving the way towards was condemned by Moscow’s policy makers as creating alternative historical accounts. “nationalistic,” and the book was confi scated and Th e quality of Soviet-era literature was very banned until 1989. Suleimenov became one of the uneven. Even Soviet literary critics recognized most prominent Kazakhi dissidents of the 1970s, the existence of works they deemed “primitive and only the personal intervention of the Kazakh with no artistic merit,” having “clichéd characters fi rst secretary, Dinmuhammed Kunaev, saved him … with stereotype heroes” and “vaguely defi ned” from imprisonment. Az-i-ia won him nationwide confl icts.7 Th e Schwarzenegger of Central Asian recognition in Kazakhstan and a reputation as the literature, like his American “action-hero” coun- “opener of diffi cult issues in the national history.” terpart, was predictably a good-looking, politi- Aft er political rehabilitation, he worked in various cally-correct person, who inevitably challenged Introduction | 7 bad guys and always won the battle (and oft en the Th ere was also much heated debate about the heart of an attractive woman) despite numerous national literatures of the Soviet and pre-Soviet tricks by his enemies. Yet there were many literary eras. Many argued that much of Soviet-era litera- works that refl ected upon genuine confl icts be- ture was so ideologically infested and so super- tween the old and the new, or critically examined fi cial in depicting communist-era topics that it the emancipation of women and men from the did not present any value in the post-Soviet and stultifying restrictions of old tribal, communal, or post-colonial era. At the same time, the Kazakh religious customs. And these, by and large, were intelligentsia argued that many authors of the the works that the ordinary people were reading. pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary eras Some extraordinarily talented writers and poets who were banned for their anti-colonial and anti- created works that captivated many people in communist or politically incorrect views should Central Asia and beyond. It is also important to be rehabilitated and given a place in the national remember that the Soviet authorities were invest- cultural heritage. Yet another group argued that ing heavily in the development of the national the wholesale rejection of Soviet-era literature identity of the newly created nation-states, and could not be justifi ed; aft er all, those works laid to this end, they sponsored national literature, the foundation for the national literature. Th ose poetry, art, education, etc. In addition, it must writers also refl ected the realities of everyday be kept in mind that the Central Asian languages life, the depth of the political and social divides were standardized only in the 1920s and 1930s. in the societies, and the confrontation between Th erefore, the national writers and poets of that representatives of diff erent generations and dif- era were oft en pioneers who revolutionized na- ferent social groups. Th ese debates hit the pages tional culture by writing not in classical Persian of national newspapers, magazines, and literary or Turkic but in the languages understandable to journals and sparked lively polemics about the ordinary peasants and workers. historical development of art, literature, and poetry. While intellectuals were busy reevaluating 3. Post-Soviet Literature the achievements and faults of their national lit- erature, and the ways in which to respond to the Like the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the break- changing world, the world itself arrived at their down of the Soviet Union and breakaway of the doorsteps in the form of crises that struck the Central Asian Republics in 1991 marked an im- literary circles on many fronts. Kazakhstan’s gov- portant milestone in the development of the lit- ernment signifi cantly cut its previously generous erature of the region. Suddenly many restrictions subsidies to publishing houses, writers unions, that had been imposed by the Communist Party book clubs, and individual authors. It was now apparatchiks disappeared. Many topics previously up to the market or rich philanthropists to decide considered politically incorrect became open for which authors could publish and survive in this public discussion. Also, the national intelligentsia, very unstable environment. At the same time, the especially the writers and poets, discovered that reading audience was shrinking at catastrophic they could discuss the development of national rates, with recession, poverty, and unemployment culture, national identity, and national history aff ecting more than three-quarters of the popula- (even its darkest pages) without the approval of tion. Many people, even professionals—teachers, Moscow. Interest in national culture and national researchers, doctors, lawyers—could no longer symbols skyrocketed, and there began a wide aff ord to buy books. And most importantly, many public search for hidden symbols and coded anti- writers themselves, especially of the younger colonial sentiments in past and present literature generation, failed to pen signifi cant pieces worthy and in the works of the banned writers. of wide public attention, as many intellectuals re- ally struggled to capture the essence and impact 8 | The Stories of the Great Steppe of social and cultural changes around them and in living standards between urban and rural areas to come up with captivating and appealing pieces. and growing diff erences and even rivalries be- All of these factors engendered pessimistic tween representatives of diff erent provinces that themes and an emphasis on crises at the personal, begin in politics and extend to all other aspects communal, or societal level. Th e verses of Kazakh of life. Th ere is also a growing gap between the poet Konysbai Ebil to some degree refl ect this secular intelligentsia and the religiously oriented trend: intelligentsia, and signifi cant diff erences in values and lifestyles between people who grew up and I don’t care were educated during the Soviet era and the post- If it is bazaar or market: Soviet period. If you have knowledge—show it; I can’t defi ne anyone as the “enemy of the nation” [anymore] Notes And there is also no one who has con- cerns about the people.8 1. Th ere is no precisely defi ned date for the transition between the pre-colonial and colonial eras in Central Yet, despite these problems, some authors Asian cultural history, as the region was conquered managed to continue to write, producing some by the Russian Empire step by step over several interesting works. Paradoxically, the call to return decades. to national roots was not realized in a grand re- 2. For a comprehensive review of the development vival of pre-modern genres and styles, although of Central Asian literature during the Imperial there was increasing public interest in traditional Russian and Soviet eras, see: Edward Allworth, “Th e heroic epics, legends, tamasha (humor and satiric Changing Intellectual and Literary Community” stories), etc. Many old works were republished and “Th e Focus on Literature,” in Edward Allworth with new and extensive commentaries. Most con- (ed.), Central Asia: 130 Years of Russian Dominance: temporary authors continue the modern Western A Historical Overview, Th ird Edition (Durham and traditions in writing novels, short stories, poems, London: Duke University Press, 1994), pp. 349–433. and polemical essays on various social, cultural 3. Ustav Souza pisatelei SSSR [Th e Statute of the Union and political issues. of Writers of the USSR], (Moscow, 1934). It would not be an exaggeration to say that 4. Word play. “Azia” means Asia; and “Az-i-ia” means Kazakh literature has been at a crossroads ever “Az and me.” since independence in 1991. Many factors ac- 5. For detailed discussion, see: Harsha Ram, “Imagining count for the slow and painful transition. Th e Eurasia: Olzhas Suleimenov’s AZ i IA” Slavic Review. most noticeable trend is that the reading audience Volume 60, Number 2, Summer 2001. is much smaller than in the past and is slowly 6. Translated by S. Peshkin. See: Translated by shrinking further. Although living standards author. From: Olzhas Suleimenov. Izbrannoie have been gradually improving, many social [Selected Works]. (Moscow: Khudozhestvenaia groups have been struggling to adapt to the new literatura, 1986). p. 88. economic reality. 7. Khalyk Kor-Ogly, Uzbekskaia literature [Uzbek Th e second important trend is the fragmenta- Literature] (Moscow: Vys’shaia shkola, 1968), pp. tion and polarization of society. Social groups are 146–147, 161–162. stratifi ed not only in terms of income. Th ere can 8. Konysbai Ebil, “Kekberi kirdi tusume,” Zhas Alash, be seen the emergence of signifi cant diff erences No. 60–61, 22 Mamyr, 2004, p. 11.