Chingiz aitmatov the first teacher

Information and Questions for Reading

Chingiz Aitmatov was the best-known Kyrgyz writer in the Soviet era, born in There is information about his biography and career in Katerina Clark's introduction to our edition of The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years, so I won't add more here - but let me know if you have questions.

Jamila chingiz aitmatov biography wikipedia Jamila [ a ] is the first major novel by Chingiz Aitmatov , published originally in Russian in The novel is told from the point of view of a fictional Kyrgyz artist, Seit, who tells the story by looking back on his childhood. The story recounts the love between his new sister-in-law Jamilya and a local crippled young man, Daniyar, while Jamilya's husband, Sadyk, is "away at the front" as a Soviet soldier during World War II. Based on clues in the story, it takes place in northwestern Kyrgyzstan , presumably Talas Province. The story is backdropped against the collective farming culture which was early in its peak in that period.

Do note that the name Chingiz is more or less the same name as Genghis (known now as Ghenghis Khan), who founded the Mongol Empire and thus was the person behind the invasions of Rus' about which we have read. As you will remember, Rusians at the time did not know that history - but by the 20th century Ghengis was famous everywhere.

"Jamila" (also translated, by James Riordan, as "Jamilia") was Aitmatov's first big success; Louis Aragon called it "The most beautiful love story in the world," and translated it into French.

Questions for Reading Aitmatov's "Jamila":

we have a story that is only about Kazakhs, though with references to Kyrgiz culture (brought in by the figure of Daniyar).

How does the result compare to the multiethnic Dzhan whom we saw in Platonov's "Soul"? Which seems more impacted by Soviet ideology of international socialism and official atheism?

2.

Chingiz aitmatov jamila Chingiz Aitmatov was the best-known Kyrgyz writer in the Soviet era, born in There is information about his biography and career in Katerina Clark's introduction to our edition of The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years , so I won't add more here - but let me know if you have questions. Do note that the name Chingiz is more or less the same name as Genghis known now as Ghenghis Khan , who founded the Mongol Empire and thus was the person behind the invasions of Rus' about which we have read. As you will remember, Rusians at the time did not know that history - but by the 20th century Ghengis was famous everywhere. Here we have a story that is only about Kazakhs, though with references to Kyrgiz culture brought in by the figure of Daniyar.

As befits a Soviet-era story, there is no mosque, no imam in this story, but our translation has several references to Allah, including the very important one where our narrator asks for Allah's blessing on his drawing, which becomes the foundation of his career as an artist, thus of his way of being in the world (especially in a society where one's job or profession was so central in determining biography and lifestyle).

How does the reader see the place of Allah in this part of Soviet society, and in this story?

3. Moving on from the second question (in a direction that will also impact our reading of The Day Lasts More): can religious traditions be "smuggled" into a work of fiction under the guise of local traditions?

4. What is the place of art (music, as well as visual art) in this story?

5.

We should be sure to talk about the impact of the Second World War (which began in for the Soviet Union) on religious practices, as well as its long-lasting traces in the culture and general public discourse of later decades.

6.

Jamila chingiz aitmatov biography The expansion of the Russian Empire towards the gates of Afghanistan and India and the subsequent incorporation of Central Asia into the Soviet Union resulted in the spread of the Russian language to Turkic-speaking peoples. And Kyrgyzstan produced one of the finest Russian language writers of the 20th century - Chingiz Aitmatov. Born in in a Kyrgyz village called Sheker, Aitmatov briefly lived in Moscow as a child, but moved back to his native land after his father who was executed during the Stalinist purges sent his family back to Kyrgyzstan. Studying in a Soviet school, Aitmatov attained bilingual skills in Kyrgyz and Russian. In his memoirs, he narrated an incident about being asked by villagers to translate to a Russian veterinarian how a Don stallion had died of poisoning after consuming wild grass.

What is specific to the local setting in this story, and what is universal? How does the narrator's reaction to the main events of the story turn them to tell us something crucial about the narrator himself? (And how might that message, concentrated in the last few pages, make the story readable as a pro-Soviet work in spite of its non-Socialist-Realist features?)

7.

How would you compare this story to other narratives of adultery (including, if you have read it, the number one Russian story of unfaithfulness, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina)?