The Stories of Modern Kazakh Prose

Mukhtar Magauin is a Kazakh writer, publicist, translator, and researcher of Kazakh folklore. In 1997, he received an international award from the Foundation of Artists and Writers of Turkey “for services to the Turkic world.” The award was presented to him by the then-President of the Republic of Turkey, Suleyman Demirel. Magauin translated into Kazakh a collection of selected stories by Somerset Maugham, as well as Henry Haggard’s novel King Solomon’s Mines.In the story “Death of a Borzoi” Magauin uncovers latent rejection, hidden protest, and other social problems created during the sedentarization of the Kazakh steppe – all told through the eyes of a dog.

Anuar Alimzhanov was born on May 2, 1930, in the village of Karlygash in Taldykorgan region. He is considered one of the most prominent Kazakh writers of the late Soviet period. He wrote not only stories about the contemporary period, but also notable historical novels. In his story "The Last Madamar", Alimzhanov writes about Kazakh deserts, water and their master, a man named Madamar. We meet this true master only at the end of the story, when he magically appears to save his people by finding underground water. Madamar is a national figure who teaches how to survive in harsh natural conditions and serves people with self-sacrifice.

Rollan Seisenbayev, born October 11, 1946, in Semipalatinsk, is a prominent contemporary Kazakh writer, playwright, and translator. In addition to his literary activities, Seisenbayev is the founder of the Abai House in London, the Abai International Club, and the international literary magazine Amanat. He is the recipient of numerous international literary awards and is known for his masterful depiction of the effects of the Soviet nuclear tests at Semey on the Kazakh people. In the following story, he shares his first-hand experience of hearing nuclear tests as a boy in Semipalatinsk.

Satimzhan Sanbayev is a Kazakh writer, film actor, and screenwriter. Born into the family of the prominent Kazakh teacher-educator Khamza Sanbayev, in 1967 he was invited to star in the film “The Road of a Thousand Miles.” During filming, he completed his first story, “White Aruana” (White Camel), which was published a year later in Prostor magazine. White Aruana is fine representation of nature-human relations in Kazakh classic literature. Aruana is almost anthropomorphic: she transforms from an ugly teen camel into a beautiful female too proud to mate and too lonely to love.

Myrzhakyp Dulatov was born on November 25, 1885. Dulatov's political creed was clearly articulated when, in 1909, he published his first collection of poetry, Oyan, Kazak! (Wake Up, Kazakh!). The copies in circulation were immediately confiscated—and in 1911 he was arrested. Dulatov became one of the leaders of Kazakh reformism and the national liberation movement. In the summer of 1917, he helped to organize the First All-Kazakh Congress in Orenburg. He subsequently became a member of the Alash-Orda government led by Alikhan Bukeikhanov and Akhmet Baitursynov. In 1928, he was arrested by the NKVD on charges of Kazakh nationalism. On October 5, 1935, Dulatov died in a prison hospital. In the novel Unfortunate Jamal, Myrzhakyp Dulatov conceived an unusually complex and interesting female character. Beautiful in appearance, Zhamal is at the same time wayward, proud, resolute—just like the strong female characters of Kazakh epics. At the same time, her behavior and actions, her thoughts and feelings, her relationships with others, her aspirations, and her tragic fate are shaped in many ways by the changes in the life of Kazakh auls that occurred during the early twentieth century. An interesting social background can be seen: the aul, its structure and way of life, the election of volost governors and of people's judges, politics and passions. But Dulatov’s main achievement is the creation of a female character who lives in anticipation of happiness, seeks something unusual in her life, is amazed by her own talents and abilities, and feels that the changes to her surroundings will bring about changes in her life. Alas, woman’s liberation occurred neither in the early twentieth century nor later. 

Oralkhan Bokeev (September 28, 1943 – May 17, 1993) was a Kazakh writer, playwright, and journalist. A bright and sensitive writer, a master wordsmith, Bokeev told his stories vividly and with deep knowledge of human nature. The plots of his stories are based on memories of his homeland and the events of his youth. He was proud of and sincerely loved his kind, honest, and hardworking countrymen. His worldview was often expressed in metaphor; each hero of a Bokeev work is a mystery.The origin of the image of the Snow Girl is a poetic version of the ancient myth about Mother Earth in her female incarnation: Umai-sheshe. The ideal female spirit appears only to a pure soul, a sinless person. The philosophical background of this mythopoetic layer is as follows: only love, only a lofty dream, can save us from the cold of alienation, loneliness, and ultimately moral degeneration.

Mukhtar Auezov (September 28, 1897–June 27, 1961) was a prominent Kazakh writer and an honored academic of the Soviet Union. Auezov's works had a major influence on the development of Kazakh literature. He wrote numerous essays, short stories, and plays (many of which have been translated into other languages) in different genres, but his greatest literary work was an epic entitled The Way of Abai. The latter brought him the prestigious Lenin Prize in 1958. In this episode, we want to retell one of his lesser-known works: Kokserik, a story about a fierce gray wolf. The story became the basis of the 1974 Soviet drama film of the same name directed by Tolomush Okeyev, which was selected as the Soviet entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 47th Academy Awards.Many researchers believe that Kokserek was influenced by Jack London’s White Fang. But wolves and animals feature regularly in great Central Asian stories, most notably those of Chingiz Aitmatov. Auezov’s story is simultaneously realistic and symbolic. Kokserek was a gray wolf whom humans tried to domesticate. But the wolf could not be tamed, just as nature in general cannot. The rules cannot be altered and enemies cannot be friends. If a man breaks the legs of wolf pups in the hope of protecting his sheep, a wolf is capable of inflicting the same grief on the man and his children. An animal is driven by its instincts, which Auezov presents realistically. Wild nature is beautiful and cruel, and man must adapt to it, not alter it.

Zhusipbek Aimautov, a teacher by training, served as the editor-in-chief of Abai magazine and the newspaper Kazak tili. He also left a significant literary legacy as the author of the novels Kartkozha (1926) and Akbilek, as well as a number of other works. Akbilek is a psychological novel that was first published in 1927 in the magazine Equal Rights for Women. Aimautov was accused of counter-revolutionary activities and shot in 1931. His works were banned, so his books were removed from libraries and destroyed. The novel Akbilek was only rehabilitated and republished in 1989. It was one of the first Kazakh novels to describe Kazakh village life during the massive social transformations of the early 20th century. We are guided through these events by following the difficult fate of Akbilek, a girl who has the misfortune of being born both beautiful and rich. She soon becomes a victim of men, every one of whom seems to betray her. Yet she remains strong despite the worst of humiliations, fighting fiercely for her right to be happy. 

Magzhan Zhumabaev is one of the fathers of modern Kazakh literature. Born in 1893 to a wealthy family in North Kazakhstan, he became one of the co-founders of the reformist political movement Alash Orda. Zhumabaev was a highly educated intellectual with wide-ranging interests who believed in the power of education: he spoke Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish and translated such prominent Western and Russian poets as Goethe and Lermontov into Kazakh. His first poetry collection, “Sholpan,” was written in Kazakh using Arabic script. Like many others, his life came to a premature end in 1938, in the midst of Stalin’s purges, but his wife preserved his writings for more than two decades in hopes that his name would be restored. Her hopes came to fruition: In 1960, Magzhan Zhumabaev was posthumously rehabilitated by a military tribunal. And with that, his poems returned to the people.Today, we will talk about one of his short stories, The Sin of Sholpan, written in 1923. Though Zhumabaev mainly wrote poems, this story is a very significant part of his ouevre. It centers on a young girl named Sholpan who strives to be happy in her marriage but, overwhelmed by her own thoughts and expectations, ultimately fails to do so.